Goldman's Theorem

The University of Northern Vermont is an academic backwater, which has managed to "steal" superstar mathematician Simon Goldman from the Ivy League. However, after five years, the enigmatic Professor Goldman has published nothing. Then, in a response to pressure from his chairman, Goldman reveals that he has been secretly working on a famous mathematical conundrum, and claims that he has finally solved it. There is a powerful bandwagon effect which involves quirky academics, starving graduate students and Machiavellian university administrators. Is Goldman's theorem valid, or is it the muddled result of hidden forces acting upon the protagonist?