By all accounts, Nabih Bedewi was no ordinary professor.
As director of the University's National Crash Analysis Center, Bedewi was a fundraising superstar at a school seeking to secure federal grants to become a top-tier research institution. During his 14-year career, he was instrumental in procuring Transportation Department grants to build facilities at the University's Virginia Campus; GW administrators and professors estimated that Bedewi may have single-handedly raised more than $20 million.
"Bedewi was not just an extraordinary professor," said an engineering faculty member who requested anonymity because engineering school Dean Timothy Tong ordered professors not to talk about Bedewi. "He was one of the most productive guys GW ever saw ... He was able to do things that seemed impossible for other people."
"Many of us thought he had the Midas touch," the professor added.
But Bedewi's superman status came crashing down in June, when he resigned due to a federal and University investigation into his financial transactions. On Oct. 12, he was arrested and charged with embezzling about $600,000 in federal grants that were supposed to be put toward research.
Between December 2002 and April 2004, federal prosecutors charge that Bedewi illegally funneled funds into a private company that he founded. According to court documents, Bedewi used the money to pay car leases and credit bills, renew his Washington Redskins tickets and give a salary to his brother's wife for a job she did not perform.
Federal and University officials have declined to say how Bedewi managed to elude University and federal regulators for two years. GW launched an investigation into Bedewi's dealings in May after "certain financial transactions became a subject of interest through a routine administrative review," said Tracy Schario, GW's director of Media Relations.
In interviews last week, University officials and professors said there are no foolproof ways to ensure against theft. At Friday's Board of Trustees meeting, President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg compared Bedewi to Willie Sutton, who, when asked why he robbed banks, responded, "That's where they keep the money."
As director of the University's National Crash Analysis Center, Bedewi was a fundraising superstar at a school seeking to secure federal grants to become a top-tier research institution. During his 14-year career, he was instrumental in procuring Transportation Department grants to build facilities at the University's Virginia Campus; GW administrators and professors estimated that Bedewi may have single-handedly raised more than $20 million.
"Bedewi was not just an extraordinary professor," said an engineering faculty member who requested anonymity because engineering school Dean Timothy Tong ordered professors not to talk about Bedewi. "He was one of the most productive guys GW ever saw ... He was able to do things that seemed impossible for other people."
"Many of us thought he had the Midas touch," the professor added.
But Bedewi's superman status came crashing down in June, when he resigned due to a federal and University investigation into his financial transactions. On Oct. 12, he was arrested and charged with embezzling about $600,000 in federal grants that were supposed to be put toward research.
Between December 2002 and April 2004, federal prosecutors charge that Bedewi illegally funneled funds into a private company that he founded. According to court documents, Bedewi used the money to pay car leases and credit bills, renew his Washington Redskins tickets and give a salary to his brother's wife for a job she did not perform.
Federal and University officials have declined to say how Bedewi managed to elude University and federal regulators for two years. GW launched an investigation into Bedewi's dealings in May after "certain financial transactions became a subject of interest through a routine administrative review," said Tracy Schario, GW's director of Media Relations.
In interviews last week, University officials and professors said there are no foolproof ways to ensure against theft. At Friday's Board of Trustees meeting, President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg compared Bedewi to Willie Sutton, who, when asked why he robbed banks, responded, "That's where they keep the money."
