South Korea’s top university on Wednesday apologized for the scandal over Hwang Woo-suk’s faked stem cell research, calling it a blemish on the country that embraced the scientist as a national hero.

The government said it would withdraw Hwang’s “top scientist” title — an honor created especially for him in the wake of purported breakthroughs that raised hopes for using stem cells to develop new treatments of diseases from Alzheimer’s to diabetes.