Watson campus: Right call by UCC to distance themselves from scientist

Two years ago, management at University College Cork (UCC) made a decision to name a campus building after Professor James Watson, the scientist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1962, with Professor Francis Crick, for describing the double helix structure of DNA.

That was a deeply flawed decision which has now, thankfully, been reversed after Watson repeated earlier odious comments he made about race. In a recent documentary, he claimed there is a direct correlation between intelligence and race, reflecting comments he made in a 2007 interview.

The decision to remove his name is not without controversy but it is essentially the right one as his remarks are not only “utterly incompatible with the mission and values of UCC”, as the university management put it, but also an affront to human decency and scientific scholarship. For such an eminent scientist it is strange and bewildering that he offers no scientific evidence for his bizarre claims.

His remarks prove that it is possible to be both an eminent professional and one who holds contemptible views.