Richard Sternberg

Richard M. Sternberg
Alma mater	Binghamton University, Florida International University (FIU)
Known for	Sternberg peer review controversy
Scientific career
Fields	Theoretical Biology, Systems Science, and Molecular Evolution
Institutions	National Institutes of Health
Doctoral advisor	George J. Klir (Binghamton), Scott Quackenbush (FIU)

Richard M. Sternberg is an American scientist. Sternberg believes intelligent design should be part of the discussion about evolution and the origin of life on Earth. Although he is not a proponent of intelligent design, Dr. Sternberg has been critical of the mainstream in evolutionary biology for refusing to even consider alternatives or challenges to strict neo-Darwinism. 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. The journal subsequently declared that the paper "does not meet the scientific standards of the Proceedings" and would not have been published had usual editorial practices been followed.

Biography

Sternberg completed a BS degree from University of South Carolina and 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 (NMNH) at the Smithsonian Institution and in 2004 he was given a 3 year appointment as an unpaid research associate. On 15 November 2006, he received a further three year appointment as an unpaid 'research collaborator' at the NMNH. Sternberg subscribes to the process structuralism school of thought. He is a Roman Catholic "who attends Mass."

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 is an outside critic and remained skeptical of their young earth beliefs. Sternberg serves as a fellow of the International Society for Complexity, Information and Design (ISCID), an intelligent design group. In 2002, Sternberg presented a lecture on intelligent design at the ISCID's Research And Progress in Intelligent Design (RAPID) conference. He is also a signatory to the Discovery Institute's Scientific Dissent from Darwinism petition.

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 edited at the time by Sternberg, fulfilling, in part, 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. According to an article by the Society of Academic Authors, Meyer said the article grew out of a presentation he made at a conference attended by Sternberg, at which they discussed the possibility of a paper for the society's journal.

The issue of the Proceedings in which the Meyer article appears was to be Sternberg's last before stepping down, having resigned in October 2003. Sternberg's decision to publish Meyer's paper and the method by which it was done prompted widespread controversy, ultimately resulting in the journal's publisher deeming the paper inappropriate for publication on the grounds that its subject matter represented a significant departure from the journal's normal content and stating that it did not meet the scientific standards of the journal; Sternberg handled the review process entirely on his own, without the involvement of an associate editor, in contradiction of typical editorial practice. They stated that Sternberg went outside the usual review procedures to allow Meyer's article to be published, and that the paper was published "without the prior knowledge of the council, which includes officers, elected councilors, and past presidents, or associate editors." The Biological Society of Washington's president, Roy McDiarmid called Sternberg's decision "a really bad judgment call on the editor's part." The Council also refused to print a rebuttal of the article and stated that it believes there is no credible evidence for intelligent design to explain the origins of diverse life.

Sternberg disputes the publisher's statement 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" at the Smithsonian for his religious beliefs. The claim was rejected in August, 2005 on the grounds that Sternberg was not actually an employee. A 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. The report was described by Steve Reuland as containing "extreme dishonesty", for claiming that "the Deputy Secretary [of the Smithsonian Institution]’s statement completely failed to address the central question of whether the harassment and discrimination identified in the OSC report took place", when the "things that the Smithsonian inquired about – Sternberg’s office space, access to collections, status as a Research Associate, etc. – were the very things that the alleged harassment and discrimination consisted of." The Discovery Institute often cites the Souder report as evidence that Sternberg specifically, and design proponents in general, are victims of persecution, and the Sternberg peer review controversy has become one of the examples of alleged discrimination often cited in the Discovery Institute intelligent design campaigns.

External links

• Sternberg's Website
• Statement from the Council of the Biological Society of Washington
• Editor Explains Reasons for 'Intelligent Design' Article from the Washington Post
• The Branding of a Heretic; Are religious scientists unwelcome at the Smithsonian? by David Klinghoffer (a Discovery Institute fellow)from the Opinion Journal
• Comments from Sternberg's Smithsonian supervisor, Jonathan Coddington in response to the Opinion Journal article, from Panda's Thumb
• Censorship in the Scientific community and Richard Sternberg from the Discovery Institute
• Intelligent Design and Peer Review from the American Association for the Advancement of Science