“Ohio Senate Candidate Bernie Moreno’s MBA Claim Debunked by University”
The claim that car dealer and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bernie Moreno holds an MBA from the University of Michigan has come under scrutiny. This claim has appeared on a car dealership application and in a biography for the Cleveland Foundation. However, a spokeswoman from the University of Michigan confirmed that Moreno only earned a bachelor’s degree in business, awarded in 1989.
Discrepancies in Academic Claims
The controversy began when a November 25, 2011, application to open an Infiniti dealership in Coral Gables, Florida, listed Moreno’s academic credentials as including an MBA from the University of Michigan. This document, entered into evidence in a Florida lawsuit and provided to the Capital Journal, included Moreno’s birthdate, Social Security and driver’s license numbers, and detailed his educational background.
The application stated that Moreno had received his bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Michigan in 1988 and then went on to earn a graduate degree from 1988 to 1991. However, the University of Michigan confirmed that Moreno’s only degree from the institution is a bachelor’s degree, awarded with “High Distinction” on April 28, 1989.
Campaign Response and Clarifications
Moreno’s campaign attributed the MBA claim on the Infiniti application to a “clerical mistake” made by a staffer. They clarified that the 2010 application did not list a post-graduate degree and insisted that the incorrect information on the subsequent form was also due to staff error. The campaign provided a quote from Rob Kistler, Moreno’s former chief financial officer, who supported this explanation.
The campaign also expressed uncertainty about how the MBA claim appeared in Moreno’s biography when he joined the Cleveland Foundation Board of Directors in 2014. Reagan McCarthy, a spokeswoman for Moreno’s campaign, said, “Moreno never told the foundation that he held an MBA. I’m not sure why they listed that; you’d have to ask them.”
Historical Misrepresentation
Further scrutiny revealed that a 2018 biography of Moreno while he chaired the Cleveland State University Board of Trustees incorrectly stated that he held multiple degrees from Michigan. This biography has since been removed and replaced with a corrected version that accurately reflects Moreno’s educational background.
Additionally, an archived bio on the Mercedes Benz of North Olmstead website also inaccurately claimed Moreno had multiple degrees from the University of Michigan. Moreno’s campaign attributed these errors to misunderstandings about the structure of his education at U of M, where students first earned an associate’s degree in liberal arts before obtaining a bachelor’s in business.
Final Remarks
Despite the multiple instances where an MBA was inaccurately claimed, Moreno’s campaign maintains that he never personally claimed to have an MBA. They stress that all errors originated from third-party entities or clerical mistakes.
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