Family of professor killed on UA campus settles for $2.5 million with university
The family of a University of Arizona professor who was killed on campus last year settled a multimillion-dollar claim against the school, the family’s attorneys announced on Tuesday.
The family settled a claim with the university for $2.5 million for failing to protect Thomas Meixner from a student who had repeatedly threatened him. The attorneys representing the family, Greg Kuykendall and Larry Wulkan, said they conducted a "successful" mediation by explaining what a lawsuit without a settlement would have meant for the university.
The settlement agreement includes provisions that require the university to establish and fund an endowed professorship in the Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences named after Thomas Meixner. Provisions also require the school to provide resources to the department for continuing mental health treatment, and a tuition or fee waiver to the students most directly affected by the incident.
The university said in a statement the agreement includes a monetary settlement for the family and a commitment to continue supporting “the well-being of those most affected by these events” and providing the family with a voice in the university's planning and implementation of security and safety measures.
“Tom’s murder revealed missed opportunities even though efforts by the Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences department were exemplary in communicating a credible threat and seeking help to protect the U of A community,” said Kathleen Meixner, the professor’s wife, in a statement released Tuesday by law firm Zwillinger Wulkan.
Her husband was the head of UA's Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences Department and was fatally shot in UA's Harshbarger Building on Oct. 5, 2022.
The former graduate student who faces a first-degree murder charge in connection with Meixner's death had a well-documented history of violence and intimidation that the university ignored, according to the Meixner family's notice of a legal claim against the university.
A report published by the university's Faculty Senate backed those claims through interviews with witnesses, students, faculty and university staff. The report found the university failed to implement an effective risk management system to keep people on campus safe.
Another report, compiled by a consultant hired by the university, offered 33 recommendations for improving security.
Since the shooting, the university has implemented various safety changes on campus, including the creation of an Office of Public Safety, an overhaul of the threat assessment team, the addition of locks to many of the doors on campus, and developing active shooter training for students and university staff. The school is also working on emergency communication and implementing recommendations from the consultant and detailed in the report.
“We fully support that the University is enacting specific measures through the implementation of the 33 recommendations made by the PAX Group and that they will conduct monitoring to confirm that they remain in place,” Meixner said. “The security measures adopted should make the U of A community safer and provide a model to other campuses.”
Reach the reporter at sarah.lapidus@gannett.com. The Republic’s coverage of southern Arizona is funded, in part, with a grant from Report for America. Support Arizona news coverage with a tax-deductible donation at supportjournalism.azcentral.com.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Slain professor Thomas Meixner's family settles for $2.5M with UA
