Still, Professor Goldman said, the decision represented a fundamental shift.

There have been other mixed signals that suggest a continuing conflict at the top, Professor Goldman said.

Professor Goldman said: "You can almost feel that lawyer sweat.

Professor Goldman said his interest in educational technology went way back.

"In academic life there comes a time when you just don't tell the truth," said Professor Goldman.

Surely, Professor Goldman is aware of such incidents in the past.

Professor Goldman said later: "I was disappointed with her.

Professor Goldman, for one, is skeptical that it can - much as he hopes it will.

"On the one hand, he has to be responsive to public anger over the oligarchs," Professor Goldman said.

Professor Goldman lives in New York with his wife and their three children.