Eli nominated to head National Institutes of Health
President Barack Obama on Wednesday nominated the renowned geneticist Francis Collins GRD ’74 to lead the National Institutes of Health.
If confirmed, Collins, whom Obama referred to as "one of the top scientists in the world," will be in charge of the 27 institutes and centers that make up the NIH and will oversee the allocation of almost $40 billion in federal research funding.
"My administration is committed to promoting scientific integrity and pioneering scientific research and I am confident that Dr. Francis Collins will lead the NIH to achieve these goals," Obama...
As Stephen Pinker, Jerry Coyne, and other prominent scientific thinkers and writers have pointed out, the choice of Collins is a worrisome disappointment.
Pinker writes:
>>> Collins, in his book, eggs on fellow evangelical Christians in their anti-scientific beliefs. He tells them that they are “right to hold fast to the truths of the Bible” and to “the certainty that the claims of atheistic materialism must be steadfastly resisted.” Granted, he is not a young-earth or intelligent-design creationist. But he has stated that God interacts with creation, in particular, that he designed the evolutionary process to ensure that human intelligence, morality, and Judaeo-Christian religious belief would evolve.
That is far more than just expressing an opinion. That is advocacy, which gives incalculable encouragement the forces that have been hostile to science for the past eight years. <<<
Christopher V, well said.
Don -- I hope you realize how ridiculous this quote sounds. Your quote even admits that Collins is not anti-evolution or a young earth creationist (what if he was, is this supposed to disqualify him from any political position unrelated to evolutionary biology?) But just because he seems to acknowledge the existence of a higher power, he is not liberal enough to appease the likes of Pinker, Coyne, etc.
An excellent choice. Its rare to see scientific leaders who are capable of performing high quality research and actually able to communicate with non-scientists. Plus, his comfort with the religious front could soften the rather hostile debates.