After granting an interview with the New Yorker magazine last summer Ryan Jordan or "Essjay" was exposed. He had posed as a professor to edit material on Wikipedia.

Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia, which relies on volunteers to write and edit its content. Those volunteers must be qualified and show proof of their qualifications.

Jordan, a 24-year-old college student from Kentucky, claimed to teach both undergraduate and graduate theology and told a reporter from the New Yorker that he was a tenured professor of religion.

Jordan provided a fake PhD to Wikipedia and was in charge of writing content, editing, and even arbitrated disputes between authors. He said he got his information from a book called Catholicism for Dummies and other texts.

The New Yorker wrote an editorial last week saying that neither the publication nor Wikipedia knew Essjay's real identity. Jordan had said he would not disclose his real name to protect himself from those he ruled against during arbitration.

Wikipedia's co-founder Jimmy Wales asked for Jordan's resignation. The student accepted saying "I hope others will refocus the energy they have spent the past few days in defending and denouncing me to make something here at Wikipedia better."

All editing capabilities are closed to him now.