Professor Frederick M. Dolan
Department of Rhetoric
University of California
Berkeley, California
22 January 2001
Marc Brodsky
(via e-mail)
CEO and
Executive Director
American
Institute of Physics
One Physics
Ellipse
College
Park, Maryland 20740
Dear Dr.
Brodsky:
Ordinarily,
I would never think of intervening in cases involving hiring and firing in
organizations with which I am unfamiliar.
I appreciate the complexity of such decisions and understand that they
can be difficult for outsiders to understand.
In the matter
of Jeff Schmidt's dismissal from his position at Physics Today, I feel
that I must protest. I have known Jeff
for almost 25 years, and know him to be a man whose integrity and skill are
simply above reproach. Whatever
suggestions he may have had for Physics Today were, I am certain, well
worth considering. While the American
Institute of Physics may not appreciate the perspectives he brings to bear on
its operations, you surely must know that issues such as diversity, staff
participation, and the like, are not going to go away. To suggest that taking some time on one's
job to work on a book (if that is indeed what Jeff did) is a firing offense is,
to put it crudely, Neanderthal. I
should think, on the contrary, that Physics Today would be eager to take
credit for nurturing the author of an excellent and incisive inquiry into the
state of the discipline.
The concerns
Jeff articulates are part of American life; they are here to stay. Firing Jeff, under the circumstances, is all
too transparent an act, and is not likely to wash, anywhere, with anyone.
Sincerely
yours,
Frederick M. Dolan