ABSTRACT
Dismissal or denial of renewal of appointment is, short of incarceration, torture, or murder, the most severe sanction against individual academics whose academic and civil activities are displeasing to their academic and administrative superiors and peers-and in some countries, to their govern mental authorities. This severe sanction of dismissal is rendered much less practicable where the academic person in question has been appointed on permanent tenure. In this respect and to this extent, appointment on perma nent tenure is a protection of academic freedom. The abrogation of the con tractual obligation undertaken by a university in making an appointment on permanent (or indefinite) tenure places the university in a difficult situation; it renders it subject to legal action and public obloquy. In the United States, it might even call down the censure of the American Association of University Professors, which university administrators try very hard to avoid. University administrators in the United States nowadays are usually reluctant to face such embarrassment.
