Guillermo Gonzalez (astronomer)
Guillermo Gonzalez | |
---|---|
Born | 1963 Havana, Cuba |
Citizenship | United States |
Alma mater | |
Known for | Exoplanet host stars |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Stellar spectroscopy, Stellar photometry |
Institutions | University of Texas at Austin, University of Washington, Iowa State University, Ball State University |
Doctoral advisor | George Wallerstein |
Guillermo Gonzalez (born 1963) is an
Education, work and academics
Gonzalez obtained a
Gonzalez was a regular contributor to Facts for Faith magazine produced by
In 2004 he published
His primary research interest is studying
Iowa State University tenure denial
Faculty statement
Two years prior to his consideration for
Here is [sic] the three original sentences, snippets of which were recombined by the Discovery Institute:
- Intelligent Design has become a significant issue in science education, and it has now established a presence, even if minimal, at Iowa State University.
- Accordingly, if you are concerned about the negative impact of Intelligent Design on the integrity of science and on our university, please consider signing the "Statement on Intelligent Design by Iowa State University Faculty" below.
- We, therefore, urge all faculty members to uphold the integrity of our university of "science and technology," convey to students and the general public the importance of methodological naturalism in science, and reject efforts to portray Intelligent Design as science.
[emphasis in original]
Two years later, an article in the local newspaper
Denial of tenure and appeals
In April 2007 Iowa State University denied Gonzalez tenure.
On June 1, 2007, Gregory Geoffroy, president of Iowa State University, rejected Gonzalez's appeal and upheld the denial of tenure. In making this decision, Geoffroy states that he "specifically considered refereed publications, [Gonzalez's] level of success in attracting research funding and grants, the amount of telescope observing time he had been granted, the number of graduate students he had supervised, and most importantly, the overall evidence of future career promise in the field of astronomy"
Reasons for denial
The university has issued an FAQ concerning the situation saying that "The consensus of the tenured department faculty, the department chair, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the executive vice president and provost was that tenure should not be granted. Based on recommendations against granting tenure and promotion at every prior level of review, and his own review of the record, President Gregory Geoffroy notified Gonzalez in April that he would not be granted tenure and promotion to associate professor."[21] The denial of tenure for Gonzalez resulted in one of the Discovery Institute intelligent design campaigns with the institute encouraging its followers to call and email Geoffroy and urge him to reverse the decision.[22][23]
The Chronicle of Higher Education said of Gonzalez and the Discovery Institute's claims of discrimination "At first glance, it seems like a clear-cut case of discrimination ... But a closer look at Mr. Gonzalez's case raises some questions about his recent scholarship and whether he has lived up to his early promise." The Chronicle observed that Gonzalez had no major grants during his seven years at ISU, had published no significant research during that time and had only one graduate student finish a dissertation.[24] The Discovery Institute misrepresents an op-ed by John Hauptman, one of Gonzalez's colleagues in the physics department. Hauptman states clearly that Gonzalez's work falls far short of what scientists know to be science, containing not one single number, not one single measurement or test of any kind.[25][self-published source?][26][improper synthesis?] "I believe that I fully met the requirements for tenure at ISU," said Gonzalez. On May 8, 2007, Gonzalez appealed the decision.[27]
Gonzalez's failure to obtain research funding has been cited as a factor in the decision. "Essentially, he had no research funding," said Eli Rosenberg, chairman of Gonzalez's department. "That's one of the issues."[28] According to the Des Moines Register, "Iowa State has sponsored $22,661 in outside grant money for Gonzalez since July 2001, records show. In that same time period, Gonzalez's peers in physics and astronomy secured an average of $1.3 million by the time they were granted tenure." On February 7, 2008, his appeal to the board of regents was denied.[29]
Discovery Institute and intelligent design campaign
The Discovery Institute launched a campaign portraying Gonzalez as a victim of discrimination by "Darwinist ideologues" for his support of intelligent design,
The Discovery Institute filed a request for public records and as a result, in December 2007,
Observers such as
How can Gonzalez complain if his work on ID was considered? If intelligent design is scientific, his department is entitled to judge his work in that field. If ID is not science, it's fair to question why their faculty member is spending so much of his time and resources on it. The claims of persecution issuing from the Discovery Institute and Dr. Gonzalez require that intelligent design be both science and religion. This isn't about science, it's about politics.
— Tara C. Smith, assistant professor of epidemiology, University of Iowa, president, Iowa Citizens for Science[38]
Additionally, Gonzalez appeared in the 2008 documentary-style propaganda film
Colleagues speak out
One of Gonzalez's colleagues, physics professor Joerg Schmalian wrote "To deny tenure to a colleague is a very painful experience. It literally causes sleepless nights to those who are forced to make a responsible decision. Faculty candidates who are being hired in our department always come with promising backgrounds and terrific accomplishments. The decision to recommend or deny tenure is then predominantly based on research performance while at Iowa State. As far as I can judge, this was no different in Gonzalez's case. What I know with certainty is that Gonzalez's views on intelligent design, with which I utterly disagree, had no bearing whatsoever on my vote on his tenure case."[35]
Grove City College
In late 2007, Gonzalez accepted a non-tenure track position in the astronomy program of the
Ball State University
On 12 June 2013,
I am very happy to join the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Ball State University. As I communicated to members of the department during my interviews, I plan to continue my research on astrobiology and stellar astrophysics. I will not be discussing intelligent design (ID) in my classes (I didn't discuss ID at ISU either). My view that there is evidence of design in physics and cosmology (the type of design I have written about) is not out of the mainstream; a number of cosmologists and physicists hold to this view. In my opinion, the controversy surrounding my hire is artificial -- largely generated by one activist blogger who is not an astronomer. Lastly, I need to reiterate that I was denied tenure at ISU not because of poor academics on my part, but for ideological and political reasons."[48]
At the end of July, Professor Jo Ann Gora as president of the university stated that science courses would not include teaching intelligent design and that Hedin would remain on the staff, but his symposium would not continue. She issued a letter to faculty and staff advising that "Intelligent design is overwhelmingly deemed by the scientific community as a religious belief and not a scientific theory" and that "Said simply, to allow intelligent design to be presented to science students as a valid scientific theory would violate the academic integrity of the course as it would fail to accurately represent the consensus of science scholars."[49]
The Discovery Institute had meetings with Indiana Senator Dennis Kruse, chairman of the Education Committee, and three of his fellow Republican legislators. The legislators, acting on behalf of the Discovery Institute, wrote to the university to raise concerns about the decision, including the "establishment of a speech code restricting faculty speech on intelligent design" and demanding that Gora answer the question, "Does the policy forbid science professors from explaining either their support or rejection of intelligent design in answer to questions about intelligent design in class?" The Discovery Institute's vice president John G. West alleged that "one science class is covering intelligent design in order to bash it. If they allow that, it's tantamount to state endorsement of an anti-religious view."[50]
The Discovery Institute also sought access to any emails between the university and Coyne to investigate their suspicions that a faculty member had contacted Coyne to sabotage the hiring of Gonzalez: Coyne described this as "crazy" and said "I made it clear I didn't think Guillermo Gonzalez or Eric Hedin should be fired. The question was whether religion can be taught as if it were science. Like president Gora said, it's not only wrong but illegal to represent religion as if it were science." He also commented that "The Discovery Institute is hurt because they lost, so they're trying to make trouble. This is a watershed thing, the first time the issue of intelligent design came up in a university as opposed to a high school or elementary school. Ball State was the first time they tried, and it failed."[50]
Books
- ISBN 0-89526-065-4
- Observational Astronomy (co-authors D. Scott Birney, David Oesper) Cambridge University Press, 2006, ISBN 978-0-521-85370-5
- (contributor) The Case for a Creator: A Journalist Investigates Scientific Evidence That Points Toward God (2004), Zondervan, ISBN 0-310-26386-7
References
- ^ Guillermo Gonzalez Archived 2006-09-25 at the Wayback Machine at the International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design. Accessed November 13, 2006
- ^ The Galactic Habitable Zone I. Galactic Chemical Evolution, Guillermo Gonzalez, Donald Brownlee, Peter Ward, arXiv
- ^ Robert Roy Britt, Amid the Universe's Chaos, a Few Habitable Places, Space.com, 28 May 2002
- PMID 18266563.
- ^ Marochnik, L.S. and Mukhin, L.M. (1986) In The Problem of the Search for Life in the Universe, Proc. Conf. SETI, Tallinn, Estonia, USSR, Dec. 7–11, 1981, edited by V.A. Ambartsumyan, N.S. Kardashev, and V.S. Troitskii, Nauka, Moscow, pp. 41–46.
- ^ The Measurability of the Universe––a Record of the Creator’s Design Archived 2006-02-22 at the Wayback Machine By Guillermo Gonzalez, Facts for Faith Issue 4, 2000.
- ^ "Biologic Institute People". Biologic Institute. 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-17.
- ^ "Review of The Privileged Planet". National Center for Science Education. July 2005. Retrieved 2006-10-18.
- ^ "Review of the Privileged Planet". Ames Tribune. June 2005.
- ^ Privileged Planet official webpage
- ^ Grove City College - Faculty. Accessed" 10 September 2018.
- ^ Intelligent Design opponents willing to debate, Marcos Rivera, Virginia Arrigucci and Emily Schaefer, Iowa State Daily
- ^ "Story Misrepresented Professors' ID Petion". Iowa State Daily. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
- ^ Statement by Iowa State University Faculty Archived 2007-10-19 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Never trust a creationist ellipsis — Hector Avalos on the Gonzalez emails Archived 2007-12-14 at the Wayback Machine, Pharyngula
- The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier
- ^ Statement from Iowa State University President Greg Geoffroy Archived 2007-07-16 at the Wayback Machine Ames Tribune. June 2, 2007.
- ^ "Statement from Iowa State University President Gregory Geoffroy". Iowa State University News Service. 2007-06-01. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
- ^ Monastersky, Richard (2008-02-07). "Intelligent Design and Tenure: Not in the Stars". Chronicle of Higher Education.
- ^ Beisser, Andrea (2008-02-08). "Regents dismiss Gonzalez appeal". Iowa State Daily.[dead link]
- ^ Facts regarding status of tenure case at Iowa State, Iowa State University
- ^ "Action Item: Help Guillermo Gonzalez in his fight for academic freedom. Contact ISU President ... let him know that you support academic freedom for Dr. Gonzalez to follow the evidence wherever it leads." Iowa State Avoids Key Question in Gonzalez Tenure Case Discovery Institute, Evolutionnews.org.
- ^ Dr. Guillermo Gonzalez And Academic Persecution Discovery Institute. May 18, 2007.
- ^ Advocate of Intelligent Design Who Was Denied Tenure Has Strong Publications Record Richard Monastersky. The Chronicle of Higher Education, May, 2007. Subscription needed
- ^ ISU Physicist Misrepresents Guillermo Gonzalez’s Arguments for Testing Intelligent Design Casey Luskin, Discovery Institute. EvolutionNews.org, June 4, 2007.
- ^ a b Rights are intact: Vote turns on question, 'What is science?' Archived 2009-04-18 at the Stanford Web Archive John Hauptman. Des Moines Register, June 2, 2007. dead link as of November 13, 2007
- ^ Gonzalez appeal to be decided by Board of Regents Archived 2008-05-29 at the Wayback Machine Andrea Beisser, Iowa State Daily. February 7, 2008.
- ^ www.desmoinesregister.com | Printer-friendly article page[permanent dead link]
- ^ Intelligent Design and Tenure: Not in the Stars, The Chronicle of Higher Education, February 7, 2008
- ^ Intelligent Design Scientist Denied Tenure Despite Exceeding Standard Requirements, Discovery Institute
- ^ Proponent of intelligent design denied tenure by ISU Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine, By: William Dillon, Mid-Iowa News
- ^ Updated: Iowa State University Denies Tenure to Noted Scientist Who Supports Intelligent Design, John West, Evolution News & Views, Discovery Institute
- ^ Lisa Rossi (2007-12-01). "Intelligent design theory influenced ISU tenure vote". Des Moines Register. Retrieved 2007-12-03.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Secret Emails Reveal How ISU Faculty Plotted to Deny Distinguished Astronomer Tenure". Discovery Institute. 3 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-05.
- ^ a b Joerg Schmalian. "LETTER: Released Gonzalez e-mails lack context". Iowa State Daily. Archived from the original on 2007-12-19.
- ^ The Discovery Institute and the Gonzalez Tenure Issue: Why Should Intelligent Design be Privileged?, The Panda's Thumb
- ^ Guillermo Gonzalez Archived 2008-04-20 at the Wayback Machine Expelled Exposed, National Center for Science Education. 2008
- ^ Gonzalez, Discovery Institute seek to replace science with politics, religion, Iowa Citizens for Science
- ^ "New AAAS Statement Decries "Profound Dishonesty" of Intelligent Design Movie". American Association for the Advancement of Science. April 18, 2008. Archived from the original on April 25, 2008. Retrieved April 20, 2008.
- Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2008-05-03.
- ^ Wesley R. Elsberry (December 12, 2007). "Iowa Citizens for Science Press Release on Gonzalez Case – The Panda's Thumb". The Panda's Thumb. Retrieved 2008-03-05.
- ^ "Iowa Citizens for Science – Gonzalez, Discovery Institute seek to replace science with politics, religion". Retrieved 2007-12-16.
- ^ Intelligent Design Film Debuts With Former ISU Professor Archived 2008-04-26 at the Wayback Machine, Who TV, April 18, 2008
- ^ Grove City College Physics Department - Faculty. Accessed: 10 September 2018.
- ^ College Acquires Observatory for Research Archived 2008-04-30 at the Wayback Machine, Grove City College, February 13, 2008
- ^ Ball State U. Hires Astronomer Who Advocates Intelligent Design, July 8, 2013
- ^ Ball State University astronomy pick raises questions in light of on ongoing Creationism debate, Colleen Flaherty, Inside Higher Ed 9 July 2013
- ^ Statement from Astronomer Guillermo Gonzalez about His New Position at Ball State University, John G. West, Evolution News and Views, the Discovery Institute, 9 July 2013
- ^ Ball State University Denounces Intelligent Design, Keeps Professor Accused of ID Bias, Michael Gryboski, The Christian Post, 2 August 2013.
- ^ a b Indiana lawmakers probe Ball State over intelligent design, Seth Slabaugh, The Indianapolis Star, 14 March 2014