faculty member in the U.S. as their faculty advisor. The students then took selective courses in the U.S. in their speciality, consulted with their faculty advisors, designed and completed an independent research project and wrote a thesis which had to be approved by their faculty advisor and the university advisory panel. Later, some external academics withdrew their association with Greenwich University and a few criticized its operation. Before relocating to Norfolk Island in 1998, Greenwich University was based in Missouri, California and Hawaii, initially operating as the International Institute for Advanced Studies in California. Neither institution was recognized by an accrediting body of the United States Department of Education. In 1990, John Bear, who was previously affiliated with the International Institute for Advanced Studies in California, became president of Greenwich University, then located in Hilo, Hawaii. Greenwich University in Hawaii closed for financial reasons at the end of 2003. Warnborough College represented to the US Department of Education during its termination hearings in 1996 that, at the time, its degrees were actually issued by Greenwich, with which it had a contractual arrangement to do so. Warnborough was represented in the DOE hearings by John Walsh of Brannagh, Chancellor of Greenwich. Notable alumni Elizabeth Quat, a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, claimed to have received her Bachelor of Business Administration, Master of Business Administration and Doctor of Philosophy in Management degrees from a certain "Greenwich University". On 11 April 2014, notable shareholder activist David Webb published an article revealing that Elizabeth Quat's purported qualifications were obtained from Greenwich University (Hawaii/Norfolk Island) instead of the much better-known University of Greenwich. References External links Alert on Greenwich University Unaccredited institutions of higher learning in the United States Australian tertiary institutions History of Norfolk Island