Freegonzalez.com website launched to raise research funds

Des Moines, IA — Iowa State University alumni — upset by the recent denial of tenure to former ISU assistant professor Guillermo Gonzalez — are taking matters into their own hands.

“As alumni at ISU, we are appalled that the current Iowa State administration would stoop to expelling a brilliant young scientist and gifted instructor from the classroom, not for teaching about intelligent design or even mentioning it in his classroom, but for simply committing the thought crime of advocating it as science,” said ISU alumnus David Eaton.

After reviewing evidence showing that Gonzalez’s tenure denial was based on his personal convictions rather than on his record as a professor, a group of concerned ISU alumni met at the ISU Memorial Union during Dr. Gonzalez’s tenure appeal. As the Iowa State Board of Regents denied Dr. Gonzalez’s request to defend his position in writing or in person as they reviewed his case, this alumni group decided to take action on his behalf, forming FreeGonzalez.com in order to publicize Dr. Gonzalez’s tenure situation and provide financial support for his continuing research.

“Academic freedom is supposed to be the foundation of Iowa State University, yet Dr. Gonzalez was denied tenure there because of his support for intelligent design,” Eaton said. “Something is very wrong with the ISU administration, and as committed ISU alumni we have the responsibility to do what we can to fix it.”

To that end, FreeGonzalez.com has set up a fund to support Dr. Gonzalez’s continuing research into the properties of stars with planets and the Galactic Habitable Zone (GHZ), a concept he invented which has been featured in Science and Nature and featured on the cover of Scientific American.

With what amounts to Dr. Gonzalez’s termination by ISU this May, the fund will help provide the resources he needs to keep his groundbreaking research moving ahead.

For more information on the fund and how to support Guillermo Gonzalez, visit www.FreeGonzalez.com.