It is a practice of Age Discrimination in deeming an old scientist (Petitioner)'s very significant scientific contributions prior to his changing career at an old age to teaching [including a publication in journal Nature that significantly advanced Langmuir's 1917 work of a Chemistry Nobel Prize (awarded in 1932), 1 and a publication in journal Science 2] as "inadmissible" in evaluating the old scientist for his later application for promotion to Professor rank and denying his promotion solely for this on-paper-reason.

It is understandable for an old individual, who made very significant contributions in scientific research earlier and changed to teaching in his/her later career at an old age, to restart at a low rank at a teaching university, since the person still needs professional growth in teaching and since the institution is a teaching university, even if the individual's professional growth in scientific research before arriving at the teaching university already surpassed the standard of the Professor rank at the teaching university. The individual already paid a heavy professional and financial price by restarting at a low rank in his/her later career and his/her older age.

The old scientist/Petitioner came to the United States from China as a young scientist in 1986, became a US citizen of Asian descent in 1999. The old scientist/Petitioner was hired as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Shepherd University in 2008, was promoted to Associate Professor in 2012, and became an accomplished teacher and researcher at Shepherd. In 2017 and 2018 Petitioner's applications for promotion to Professor rank were denied solely for the on-paper-reason of lack of full length journal publications during Associate Professor rank.

Whether the denial of promotion to Professor rank of an older scientist with significant prior research contributions solely on the basis of lack of publications during Associate Professor rank constitutes age discrimination