Megan Lee Neely is an Assistant Professor in the department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics

at Duke University. In January 2019, she made headlines after sending an email to Duke students asking them to not speak in Chinese in public areas on campus and stating that speaking in languages other than English on campus could hurt their research opportunities. ^[1]

Megan Neely graduated from North Carolina State University in 2011 with a PhD in Statistics. She also holds a Master of Science and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematical Sciences from Clemson University.

Megan Neely has worked as an Assistant Professor in the Biostatistics and Bioinformatics department at Duke University since 2011. In 2016, she became the Director of Graduate Studies for the Master of Biostatistics Program at Duke. She is also a member of the Duke Clinical Research Institute. In May 2017, she was named the Gordon G. Hammes Faculty Teaching Award winner for the 2016-2017 academic year. In January 2019, Neely stepped down from her position as the Director of Graduate Studies after sending out an email asking student to not speak in Chinese, and and stating that speaking in Chinese on campus could hurt their job opportunities. She previously served as the Associate Director and Co-Director of Graduate Studies. [1]From 2010 to 2011 she was a statistical intern in Clinical Trials SIGMA Group at Duke and was a Teaching Assistant at North Carolina State University’s department of statistics.

Neely also previously worked from 2007 to 2010 as an adjunct instructor in math and physics at Wake Tech COmmunity College in Raleigh, as a research assistant from 2004 to 2006 at The Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Clinic at the Greenville Hospital University Medical Center in South Carolina and from 2005 to 2006 as a teaching assistant in Clemson University’s mathematical science’s department.

In January 2019, Megan Neely received widespread backlash after sending out an email telling Duke students to only speak in English on campus.

Neely asked students to use English after two unnamed colleagues approached her about students speaking Chinese in lounge or study areas.

The two colleagues were trying to identify the students they heard speaking Chinese to record their names in case the students ever applied for an internship or were interviewed by them, she wrote in the email.

^[1]

Mary Klotman the Dean of Duke University Medical School denounced Neely's actions and said that the university's Office of Institutional Equity would conduct a thorough review of the program.

Neely also sent an email to students in February 2018, telling students to only speak English on campus.

titled "To Speak English or To Not Speak English”.

She ended the email, “Bottom line: Continuing this practice may make it harder for you and future international students to get research opportunities while in the program.”

Neely later apologized for the January 2019 email.

The apology email—sent from Department Chair Elizabeth DeLong’s email account but signed by both DeLong and Neely—acknowledged that the Friday email “was not appropriate.”

“Although it was not meant to be hurtful, it came out that way and was clearly in error,” DeLong wrote.

DeLong also included a statement from Neely in the email.

“I deeply regret the hurt my email has caused,” Neely wrote in the email from DeLong.

“It was not my intention.

Moving forward, it is my sincerest wish that every student in the Master of Biostatistics is successful in all of their endeavors.”