Liberal bigots oust Black MIT professor

From Project 21...

First appointed in 1998, Professor Sherley is the first and only black faculty member of MIT's Division of Biological Engineering. An expert in stem cell research, he deviates from the beliefs of many of his colleagues because he believes embryonic stem cell research destroys human life. "It's very easy to... ignore our responsibility for responsible conduct in research," he told The Australian newspaper last year.

A recipient of a $2.5 million Pioneer Award from the National Institutes of Health in 2006, Professor Sherley is one of the first in his field to demonstrate the "immortal DNA strand" theory that shows adult stem cells to be less likely to mutate into debilitating tumors than their embryonic counterparts.

Professor Sherley says conflicts of interest and racial animosity led to the denial of his bid for tenure at MIT in 2004. As detailed in a letter drafted by noted leftist MIT professor Noam Chomsky and ten other faculty members, Professor Sherley's division head did not recuse himself from the tenure review process despite being married to a colleague critical of Professor Sherley's work. Additionally, this same division head reportedly told Professor Sherley that race was a factor in the decision against him. Recruited to bolster MIT's anemic number of minority faculty, Professor Sherley was also reportedly never told about this fact and later found he had less access to resources than other faculty.

While he's received offers from other institutions, Sherley has instead launched a hunger strike to protest MIT's unfair treatment. Personally I never thought much of hunger strikes, and more recently they've been abused by the likes of Jesse Jackson and Cindy Sheehan so that the "hunger" appears to be more in word than deed.

What I wonder is, who's getting the $2.5 million? Is MIT keeping it after tossing the actual recipient?

Posted by Danny Carlton at February 8, 2007 6:55 AM