ANN ARBOR, Mich. – University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel condemned a now-deceased doctor Thursday after sexual misconduct allegations against the doctor surfaced.
Robert E. Anderson, was a former director of University Health Service and a former athletic team physician. He worked at the school from 1968 until his retirement in 2003. He died in 2008.
“The allegations are highly disturbing," Schlissel said during a Board of Regents meeting. “On behalf of the university, I apologize to anyone who was harmed by Dr. Anderson.”
The investigation comes after a U-M Police investigation that began in July 2018 when a former student athlete wrote to Athletic Director Warde Manuel to detail abuse during medical exams by Anderson in the early 1970s. Five people have since made allegations against Anderson.
The former patients described sexual misconduct and unnecessary medical exams. Most of the exams took place in the 1970s, with at least one reported incident as late as the 1990s.
“This type of conduct is reprehensible, and whether it takes place now or took place in the past, it is unacceptable,” Schlissel said.
When he said that, someone in the audience at the meeting screamed, “You knew!”
The University of Michigan is asking any former patients Anderson who believe they were subjected to sexual misconduct during a medical exam to contact the U-M Compliance Hotline at 866-990-0111.