37-Year-Old Tufts Applicant Claims Med School Age Bias

A former assistant professor at the Tufts Medical School, who was denied admission to the Tufts M.D. program last year, has filed an age discrimination complaint against the school.

Sullivan filed the complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination last summer, and the commission has found probable cause for a judgment against Tufts on grounds of age discrimination.

Tufts has contested the finding, and a hearing on the case is expected in June.

Richard F. Sullivan '59 applied to the Medical School in 1973 after the school told him he would lose his teaching position in June 1974. He said last night the chairman of the school's admissions committee told him he was rejected because of his age, which is 37.

Sullivan was assistant professor of biochemistry and pharmacology at Tufts Medical School, and also taught courses at the Tufts Dental School. He and all other teachers in the department below the rank of associate professor were fired last June because of budget cutbacks.

Sullivan has a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Harvard, and has been assistant wrestling coach here since 1971.

In 1972, at age 34, Sullivan applied to a University of Miami M.D. program for students who already have a Ph.D. in science, and was rejected because of his age.

Sullivan said that last night an official of the school told him last year he would have been the eldest person ever admitted to the program.

Sullivan applied to 13 medical schools in 1973, and was rejected by all of them.

Officials at the Tufts Medical School refused to comment last night on Sullivan's charge of discrimination.