Crosspost: Prominent Dutch astronomer barred for ‘extremely unacceptable’ behavior

Written by Cathleen O'Grady for Science

Tim de Zeeuw—seen speaking here at the inauguration of the Extremely Large Telescope in Chile in May 2017—today acknowledged his behavior has been “unpleasant and impatient in an old-fashioned way.” Credit: Mario Ruiz/Newscom.

Leiden University in the Netherlands has “removed” prominent theoretical astronomer Tim de Zeeuw, a former head of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), for bullying subordinates and what it calls “extremely unacceptable” behavior toward women colleagues over a long period of time. De Zeeuw will not be allowed to return to the university and can no longer supervise Ph.D. candidates. He will keep his job and salary, however.

In an 18 October statement about the case, the university did not mention De Zeeuw by name but instead talked about an anonymous “professor”; the university’s Executive Board says Dutch privacy law bans the school from publicly identifying the culprit. Yesterday, the Dutch newspaper NRC was the first to mention De Zeeuw’s name, based on unnamed sources. Today, De Zeeuw sent a statement to Science via his lawyer, Merienke Zwaan, that confirms he is the accused scientist. He acknowledged having been “unpleasant and impatient in an old-fashioned way, which no longer fits in the current spirit of the times,” but said he disagreed with the university’s decision. “It has never been my intention to hurt or harm people. I am very sorry that people have experienced my behaviour as negative,” De Zeeuw stated.

The university has not made the investigation report public, but a 21 October column by Executive Board President Annetje Ottow addressed to the academic community offered some details. “We are talking here about … abuse of power, gender discrimination and the systematic vilification and belittling of staff. It also includes inappropriate behaviour with an element of sexual intimidation: ranging from comments right down to unwelcome physical contact with one of the members of staff,” Ottow wrote. “All of this was under the constant threat of harming the complainants’ careers.”

Read the full article at: https://www.science.org/content/article/prominent-dutch-astronomer-barred-extremely-unacceptable-behavior

**The CSWA has compiled a list of resources for those who may be experiencing bullying and harassment withi their workplaces. You can find the list here.