As widely reported, Phil Jones has served as the head of the Climatic Research Unit, the highly influential British research center at the University of East Anglia. With CRU now floundering in the midst of strong evidence that he and others suppressed data about climate change and tried to stifle dissenting scientific opinion on the subject, Jones has temporarily relinquished his august post — probably with a hefty shove from the university’s higher-uppers.

According to the campus administration, and as the AP reports, he will stand down as CRU’s director until the completion of an “independent review,” presumably of Jones’s damning e-mails, which were were among the thousands of pieces of hacked correspondence recently made public.

It remains to be seen just how independent, thorough, and rigorous the university’s review will be, but here is what the campus so far has to say on the matter:

The university’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research Trevor Davies said the investigation would cover data security, whether the university responded properly to Freedom of Information requests, “and any other relevant issues.” The statement said the specific terms of the review will be announced later in the week …
Davies said there was nothing in the stolen material to suggest the peer-reviewed publications by the unit “are not of the highest-quality of scientific investigation and interpretation.”

Rarely does it happen that a university’s leaders land quite so squarely on the hot seat. But given the tremendous consequences of the outcome of the climate-warming war, theirs is one inquiry the world will be monitoring.