This is a quick note that may not surprise most people. Amy Bishop, at University of Alabama  Huntsville, just killed three colleagues and injured some more. It seems that this act may be related to having been denied tenure.  A PhD from Harvard, Amy Bishop had grants, and sat in a startup board, which are traces of a successful academic career. She was also a mother of four. Can your academic job environment be so toxic as to motivate murder? She was possibly suffering major depression at the time of the incident, and other mental health issues.

The evidence that an academic career is too stressing is piling up. An academic deals with rejection very often, from both peers and students, gets paid like a boy scout, and works every waking hour. This should be a waking call to all academics that feel tenure is the center of their lives.

A Previous Shooting Death at the Hands of Alabama Suspect – NYTimes.com

UPDATE: removed wrong photo.