SOUTH BEND – from www.southbendtribune.com – University of Notre Dame officials say they fired a tenured professor because he spent more than $190,000 in research grant money and university funds on unauthorized equipment, including digital cameras he used to take pornographic pictures.

The allegations have surfaced in documents the university recently filed to defend itself from former electrical engineering professor Oliver M. Collins’ [picture] breach of contract lawsuit.

A university investigation revealed Collins received the grant money for research and instead bought at least seven digital cameras, many lenses, surveillance cameras, an oversized printer and computer equipment he used to produce pornographic photos.

“Collins took many of these cameras and accessories to his home and used them extensively in pursuit of his personal hobby of photography, including taking landscape and pornographic photographs,” the university states in a response recently filed in U.S. District Court in South Bend.

Pornographic images later were found stored on campus computers that Collins and others had access to, according to the university’s response.

Collins filed suit in July claiming breach of contract by the university. He claims he was wrongly fired in June based on allegations that he misused research grant money and used campus computers to store sexually explicit images.

In the lawsuit, Collins claims that Notre Dame did not prove that his conduct represented “serious and deliberate personal or professional misconduct” and that dismissal wasn’t merited. Collins claims he presented two expert witnesses at a hearing who testified that the equipment he bought might plausibly be used for valid scientific research.

Notre Dame officials, in their written response, claim the university incurred damages of more than $140,000 as a result of Collins’ actions and the university’s subsequent investigation of his purchases and conduct. Notre Dame is asking that the suit be dismissed and that Collins be ordered to pay the legal bills.

Collins, who now lives in Key West, Fla., has an unlisted phone number and could not be reached for comment. An Indianapolis attorney handling his case has not responded to phone messages.

Collins’ lawsuit states his firing has severely damaged his professional reputation, making him virtually unemployable in a similar position, according to court documents.

Tenure, a common practice at American colleges and universities, refers to a professor’s contractual right not to have his or her job terminated without just cause. Cases of tenured professors being fired are rare.

Collins’ lawsuit claims the process that led to his dismissal didn’t comply with the terms of Notre Dame’s academic articles, because two professors who served on an informal resolution panel didn’t later recuse themselves from participating in a hearing that led to his firing, and that an administrator who served on the earlier panel didn’t recuse himself from testifying during the hearing.

Collins joined the Notre Dame faculty in 1995 with tenure. His academic research focused on information theory, communications, coding theory and precision measurement.

The provost’s office informed Collins in May that a committee concluded there was evidence that he had purchased equipment different from that specified in National Science Foundation grant documents; failed to inform the NSF of the type of equipment purchased; submitted a false report indicating the grant money was used as intended; and used professional equipment for personal use.

The committee concluded that there was “serious cause” for Collins’ dismissal. A campus appeals board upheld the decision, as did the Rev. John I. Jenkins, Notre Dame’s president. Jenkins sent Collins a June 2 letter notifying him he was fired.