Elias James Corey - Altom Suicide

Altom Suicide

Among the hundreds of graduate-students supervised by Prof. Corey was Jason Altom. Altom's suicide caused controversy because he explicitly blamed Corey, his research advisor, for his suicide. Corey was devastated and bewildered by Altom's death. Altom cited in his 1998 farewell note "abusive research supervisors" as one reason for taking his life. Altom's suicide note also contained explicit instructions on how to reform the relationship between students and their supervisors. As a result of Altom's death, the Department of Chemistry accepted a proposal allowing graduate students to ask two additional faculty members to play a small advisory role in preparing a thesis.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) cited the New York Times article on Altom's suicide as an example of problematic reporting, and suggested that Corey was unfairly scapegoated. According to The Boston Globe, Altom's suicide note indicated fear that his career hopes were doomed, but The Globe also cited students and professors as saying that Altom actually retained Corey's support.