An official representative of American University in Cairo did not support the claim made by Viktor V. Solkin, a prominent Russian Egyptologist, that he had defended his PhD in the History of Egypt there.

In June 2008, Viktor Solkin took part in The School for Scandal, a popular NTV show hosted by Tatiana Tolstaya and Avdotya Smirnova. He said he decided not to defend his thesis in Russia because of some unfavorable reviews and comments and went through with the procedure at American University in Cairo.

This claim was met with a bit of disbelief by a number of Russian Egyptologists, and UralBusinessConsulting Agency of Information and Analytics sent an official query to the American University in Cairo asking if Viktor V. Solkin has ever defended any thesis there, and what kind of academic degree he might have received.

The university’s Communication and Marketing Department’s PR Director Inas Hamam replied the AUC did not offer any PhD programs and said that even though the university did work with some Russian scientists, they had ‘no record of any partnership with Viktor V. Solkin’.