MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- University of Pittsburgh law professor John Burkoff was elected yesterday as one of the three independent members of a panel that will investigate whether Mylan executive Heather Bresch earned an M.B.A. degree at West Virginia University.

Mr. Burkoff, who specializes in criminal law and legal ethics, was elected by WVU's faculty senate, along with former University of Missouri-Columbia Provost Lori Franz and former Pace University business school Dean Arthur Centonze.

They will join WVU professors Roy Nutter and Michael Lastinger, who were appointed Jan. 2 when WVU Provost Gerald E. Lang formed a three-member panel.

Mr. Lang's third pick, West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission Vice Chancellor Bruce Flack, resigned this month after the faculty senate voted at its Jan. 14 meeting to recommend that he be replaced by three people with no ties to the university or state government. The senate's vote reflected concern that the panel's findings would not be credible unless a majority of its members were independent.

Mr. Burkoff has taught at Pitt since 1976 and has law degrees from the University of Michigan and Harvard. He was nominated by WVU law professor Patrick McGinley.

Mr. Centonze was recommended by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, the Tampa, Fla., body that accredits WVU's College of Business and Economics.

The Higher Learning Commission, the Chicago-based agency that accredits the university, recommended Ms. Franz. She was part of the team that evaluated WVU during its 2004 accreditation review.

The senate also elected two alternates who would serve if any of the three others it elected could not meet with the panel in a timely manner, faculty senate Chairman Steven Kite said. They are Arizona State University Assistant Dean Jacalyn Askin and former University of Arkansas business school Dean Doyle Williams.

The senate's recommendation that a majority of the panel be independent stems from who Ms. Bresch is. She is the daughter of West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin and is chief operating officer of Mylan, one of Morgantown's largest employers. Milan Puskar, chairman of the Cecil-based generic drug maker, is Ms. Bresch's boss and WVU's largest benefactor.

Ms. Bresch also is a longtime friend and former business associate of WVU President Michael S. Garrison.

Ms. Bresch has said she earned the degree in December 1998, a statement the university initially refuted. Mr. Lang and other high-ranking university officials retroactively awarded her the degree in October, saying credits she earned had not been transferred to the university's official records. Since then, they have acknowledged records of class work and tuition payments are missing.

A Dec. 21 story by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette raised questions about how the university went about granting the degree even though university records showed Ms. Bresch had completed only 26 of the 48 credits required.

The newspaper's research found that six classes worth 16 credits, including grades, were added to her transcript in October. A majority of the professors who taught those classes said they were not consulted about the revisions. In addition, two courses worth a total of six credits that had been marked "incomplete" were changed to show letter grades.

Four members of her graduating class have said Ms. Bresch left the program and did not graduate.

Mr. Nutter, who was appointed chairman of the panel by Mr. Lang, said yesterday he hopes to assemble all five members as soon as possible. He said anyone called by the committee would not be asked to speak under oath.

He also said he did not know if the panel would ask to talk to Ms. Bresch or Mr. Garrison.

Mr. Nutter and Mr. Lastinger have been proceeding with the investigation without the outside members with the idea that they would catch up.