Astronomer Geoffrey Marcy is no longer a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
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For the first time, the U.S, National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has expelled a member who had been found guilty of sexual harassment. NAS’s governing council has rescinded the membership of astronomer Geoffrey Marcy, the academy told its members in an email Wednesday.
The action is the first since the 158-year-old NAS revised its bylaws 2 years ago to allow members to be expelled for documented misconduct violations. No actions were taken on the policy until fall 2020, when a French scientist filed a complaint against Marcy and three other NAS members who had been investigated for sexual harassment, according to news accounts.
The email from the NAS informed members that Marcy’s membership had been rescinded, effective 24 May, for violating its harassment policy. The NAS press office confirmed the academy’s action in an email to ScienceInsider.
In 2015, Marcy was removed from the University of California, Berkeley, after BuzzFeed reported that a university investigation had found him guilty of sexual harassment, including kissing and groping students. He is now with Space Awareness, a nonprofit in Santa Rosa, California, according to a recent preprint he posted on arXiv.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Source: Science Mag