Timothy Richard Hunt is a biologist who won the Nobel Prize. A faculty member at University College London, a fellow of the Royal Society, and a fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, he was knighted for his accomplishments. But he said this in a speech:
“Let me tell you about my trouble with girls. Three things happen when they’re in the lab: You fall in love with them; they fall in love with you; and when you criticize them they cry.”
A lame attempt at humor. Offensive to women. Politically incorrect. So he got fired from all of his positions! Even though he has a Nobel Prize! (I wonder if they can take that away from him.)
Lesson: No one is safe making those kinds of remarks. You can’t joke about this kind of thing. Your intentions won’t count. Your career will be in jeopardy. For all of our alleged lack of inhibitions, we do have social taboos and you will be punished if you break them. Even if you have a Nobel Prize.
From Geofrey Pullum,36 Words – Lingua Franca – Blogs – The Chronicle of Higher Education:
You’re 72; a respected male biologist, fellow of both the Royal Society and the Academy of Medical Sciences, 2001 Nobelist in physiology and medicine, husband to a distinguished female immunology professor, knighted for services to science. You’re giving an informal speech at a Women In Science lunch, part of a conference of science journalists in faraway South Korea. With a twinkle in your eye, you risk revealing your human side with a candid 36-word admission about your experiences when younger:
“Let me tell you about my trouble with girls. Three things happen when they’re in the lab: You fall in love with them; they fall in love with you; and when you criticize them they cry.”
The audience smiles appreciatively at your self-deprecating humor, and your ironic flirtation with stereotypes.
No it doesn’t. This is 2015. The room freezes. You struggle on for five minutes trying to win back the stony-faced audience. The hole you’re in is deep, but you just can’t stop digging.
And the room is full of journalists. At the speed of a tweet your remarks circle the globe. Overnight your name becomes mud.
This was real life for Sir Timothy Richard Hunt FRS FMedSci, honorary professor in Life Sciences at University College London, between June 9 and 11. The Royal Society dropped him like a hot potato instantly, on the day of the speech. “I’m really sorry that I said what I said,” Hunt told the BBC, back-pedaling desperately; but it was too late. Before he was off the plane from Seoul, his wife had been told that he must resign from UCL or be dismissed. 48 hours after the speech he had lost his departmental affiliation, his role in the European Research Council, and his seat on the Royal Society’s awards committee. His academic occupation is gone.
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