The journalism academic exposed for falsely claiming to have a PhD in 2022 was portrayed in a notice marking his father’s death as having the qualification a decade ago.
University of Galway lecturer Tom Felle was the subject of a RTÉ Prime Time expose last week that confirmed his claimed PhD did not exist.
An Associate Professor at University of Galway’s Department of Journalism and Media, Mr Felle was head of the department until last year.
For years Mr Felle, a prominent expert on disinformation and fake news, represented himself as having a PhD.
Mr Felle, a judge at this week’s Irish Journalism Awards, claimed to have earned his qualification from the prestigious City St George’s University of London in 2022.
RTÉ reported that he had made the same claim in his curriculum vitae.
University of Galway lecturer Tom Felle was the subject of a RTÉ Prime Time expose last week that confirmed his claimed PhD did not exist
‘It wasn’t like a traditional PhD,’ Mr Felle told Prime Time, ‘it was a set of a set of journal articles done over, probably, five or six years’.
Mr Felle also said he was unable to remember the title of his thesis and he didn’t know why the library in City St George’s had no completed thesis.
‘I can’t remember exactly,’ he told RTÉ, ‘but it was on media and democracy. I think it was something like the role of journalism in changing times… in an evolving democracy, something like that.’
He continued to claim the doctorate even after Prime Time challenged him in June, forcing the journalist to spend months confirming the deception via Freedom of Information requests and appeals.
Now the Mail can reveal that Mr Felle was publicly portrayed as having a PhD a decade ago – six years before his claimed 2022 qualification.
In a family announcement, published in the Connacht Tribune after his father’s death in 2016 to say thank you to sympathisers, Mr Felle was described as ‘Dr Tom Felle.’
The Mail sought to speak with Mr Felle this week at his Loughrea home, registered in the Land Registry under ‘Dr Tom Felle’.
Although he was visible through the window, Mr Felle declined to open the door or speak.
Prior to his career in academia, Mr Felle was a journalist for the Irish Independent and once worked for this newspaper.
He has also spent time at a news bureau in Beirut and at a local newspaper in Australia.
In 2009, he began a PhD at the University of Limerick and was described that year as a ‘PhD researcher’ in newspaper articles.
Though he remained a lecturer in Limerick until 2013, Mr Felle is understood to have dropped out of his PhD after the first year.
A period at City St George’s University of London – sometimes called the Harvard of Journalism – then followed between 2013 and 2018, where Mr Felle worked as a lecturer.
Though he remained a lecturer in Limerick until 2013, Mr Felle is understood to have dropped out of his PhD after the first year
Then, in 2018, he led the Department of Journalism in Galway.
The appointment came as the University refunded fees to some journalism students who complained of substandard courses.
It was hoped Mr Felle would restore the Department’s reputation and he quickly became a prominent figurehead in academic and journalistic communities.
At a November 2024 ceremony, wearing what appear to be doctoral robes, he presented RTÉ’s Europe Editor Tony Connolly, with an honorary doctorate, the video of which is available on YouTube.
‘Thank you to Dr Tom for that overwhelming tribute,’ Mr Connolly said as he began his acceptance speech.
Mr Felle’s research interests include ‘trust, transparency and the role of journalism in democratic life’.
He is also described as an expert on ‘information disorder, verification, and the manipulation of online information’.
Last week, when RTÉ was about to reveal Mr Felle’s deception, Tríona Ní Shíocháin, the Head of the School of English, Media, and Creative Arts emailed all staff, telling them not to speak to the press and to direct all queries to the press office.
The email added, that the ‘school and college are liaising with HR to prioritise the immediate well-being of the individual [Mr Felle] concerned.’
Initially, the University of Galway declined to comment publicly, other than to say ‘the veracity of academic records are a matter for the University to address internally and privately.’
In response to Mail queries this week, a University spokesperson said ‘a PhD was not an essential requirement for the role for which he [Mr Felle] was recruited.’
‘Mr Felle did not claim to hold a PhD when applying for the position at the University,’ the spokesperson added.
The spokesperson did not directly address queries about whether or not Mr Felle may be in breach of the code of conduct for staff.
On his now deleted LinkedIn profile, Mr Felle spoke of engaging ‘regularly with policymakers and public bodies, including giving policy advice to governments and international bodies.’
Those included the United Nations-affiliated, International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
Mr Felle led his Galway department as it became an academic partner for the IOM’s Global Migration Media Academy from 2020.
Mr Felle led his Galway department as it became an academic partner for the IOM’s Global Migration Media Academy from 2020
In 2023/24 he became a Fulbright Scholar-In-Residence (S-I-R) with the East Los Angeles College in California.
S-I-R positions involve a stipend ranging from $2,850 to $3,700 per month, expenses, a dependent allowance and a ‘salary supplement’ amongst other benefits.
The Mail asked the Fulbright Commission if Mr Felle claimed to have a PhD in his application and if this may have placed him above a rival candidate.
In response a spokesperson said the Commission was ‘reviewing the matter internally’.
In 2024, Mr Felle was appointed as an expert assessor for media regulator Coimisiún na Meán.
We asked the Coimisiún if Mr Felle had claimed to have a PhD in his application for that role.
In response, a spokesperson did not specifically address that question, saying only that applicants expressed their interest ‘through a cover letter and CV’.
‘We do not specifically require qualifications for independent assessors,’ they added.
As an assessor for Coimisiún na Meán, Mr Felle received €4,880 in the past two years.
Also in 2024, Mr Felle was appointed to an expert advisory panel by the Department of Foreign Affairs.
In January this year he was also appointed to an EU-funded project called Dempower, which is responsible for designing a new Erasmus Joint Master’s programme focused on democratic resilience, media power and information integrity.
