Family of Arizona professor killed on campus settles $9 million claim against university

PHOENIX — The family of a University of Arizona professor who was killed on campus in 2022 settled a multimillion-dollar claim against the school, the family’s attorneys announced on Tuesday.

The family filed a claim in March for $9 million against the university 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 attorneys did not respond when asked about how much the Meixner family received in the settlement.

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.

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Thomas Meixner killed inside campus building

Meixner was fatally shot on Oct. 5, 2022, inside the Harshbarger Building where he headed the school’s Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences.

Campus police had received a call from inside the building, requesting police escort a former student out of the building. Responding officers were on the way to the scene when they received reports of a shooting that left one person injured, according to then-campus police Chief Paula Balafas.

Meixner was taken to a hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. Hours after the incident, Balafas said Arizona state troopers stopped Murad Dervish, 46, in a vehicle about 120 miles northwest of the Tucson, Arizona, campus.

Dervish was a former graduate student of Meixner, according to authorities. He 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.

Dervish had been expelled from the school and barred from campus after being accused of sending threatening text messages and emails to Meixner and other professors. He faces a first-degree murder charge in connection with Meixner's death.

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University of Arizona's threat management process found ineffective

A report published by the university's Faculty Senate backed those claims through interviews with witnesses, students, faculty, and university staff. The report found that 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,” Kathleen Meixner said. “The security measures adopted should make the U of A community safer and provide a model to other campuses.”  

Contributing: The Associated Press

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.