Richard Sternberg

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Richard M. Sternberg is an American scientist. He was the editor of the scientific journal Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington who controversially handled the review and editing process of the only article published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal advocating intelligent design, although the journal subsequently posted a statment backing away from the article citing process problems.

1 Biography
2 Peer review controversy
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Biography

Sternberg has two PhDs; the first from 1995 in molecular evolution from Florida International University, and a second in systems science from Binghamton University. He did post-doctoral work between 1999 and 2001 at the National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian Institution and in 2001 became an unpaid research associate there.^[1]

Sternberg subscribes to the school of thought of process structuralism^[2].

In 2001, he became managing editor of the peer-reviewed scientific journal, Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington and joined the board of the International Journal of General Systems. The Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington is a taxonomic journal which usually publishes descriptions of newly-identified species. In the same year, he also joined the editorial board of the Baraminology study group, a young earth creationist "creation science" attempt to identify and classify the created kinds mentioned in scripture. He has stated that he as an outside critic and remained skeptical of their young earth beliefs ^[3] Sternberg serves as a fellow of the International Society for Complexity, Information and Design (ISCID), an intelligent design group^[4]. In 2002, Sternberg presented a lecture on intelligent design at the ISCID's Research And Progress in Intelligent Design (RAPID) conference^[5]. He is also a signatory to the Discovery Institute's Scientific Dissent from Darwinism petition^[6]

[edit] Peer review controversy

Main article: Sternberg peer review controversy

In June 2004, a paper by Stephen C. Meyer advocating intelligent design was published in the Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, a peer reviewed scientific journal, fulfilling a goal of the intelligent design movement since its inception. Meyer serves as the Director of the Center for Science and Culture, part of the Discovery Institute, the hub of the intelligent design movement. ^[7]

The editor for the issue of the Proceedings in which the Meyer article appears was Sternberg, and the issue was to be his last before stepping down having resigned in October 2003. Sternberg's decision to publish Meyer's paper and the method which it was done prompted widespread controversy, ultimately resulting in the journal's publisher issuing a statement that Sternberg went outside the usual review procedures to allow Meyer's article to be published in his last issue as editor and that it did not meet their criteria. ^[8].

Sternberg disputes the publisher's statement ^[9] and claims that, after the controversy became public, unnamed groups attempted to pressure the NIH to fire him and efforts were made to remove him from his role of research associate at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History. The result of the latter, he claims, was that "it was made clear to me that my current position at the Smithsonian will not be renewed." Sternberg filed a claim that afterward he was "targeted for retaliation and harassment" for his religious beliefs at the Smithsonian. The Office of Special Council was "able to find support for many of [his] allegations." ^[10] However, the claim was rejected in August, 2005 on the grounds that Sternberg was not actually an employee. A partisan report issued by Republican intelligent design advocates Mark Souder and Rick Santorum echoed Sternberg's claims about his treatment at the Smithsonian, but no action has resulted.^[11]^[12]^[13] The Discovery Institute often cites the Souder report as evidence that Sternberg specifically, and design proponents in general, are victims of persecution.