Leiden University says Tim de Zeeuw abused his position of authority and power; allegedly intimidated and bullied women.
Leiden University professor, theoretical astronomer and former head of ESO, Tim De Zeeuw was removed from his position due to ‘extremely unacceptable’ behaviour towards colleagues, particularly towards women for a ‘very long time’. Zeeuw will no longer be a part of the university and or supervise PhD candidates. His actions included “intimidation, systematic vilification, and unwanted physical contact with one of the staff members,” according to Annetje Ottow, head of Leiden’s executive board. However, he will still retain his professional title.
While a statement about the case was made on October 11 by the university, however, the astronomer was not addressed by his name, but with titled anonymously as ‘professor’, as Dutch privacy laws banned the school from publicly revealing his name. The Dutch newspaper NRC was the first to associate Zeeuw’s name with the case based on the information provided by unnamed sources.
De Zeeuw confirmed his identity in a statement he gave to Science today through his attorney, Merienke Zwaan. Even though Zeeuw admits to being “unpleasant and impatient in an old-fashioned style”, which no longer fits in “the contemporary spirit of the times,” he disagreed with the university’s choice to let him go. De Zeeuw stated on the issue “It has never been my intention to hurt or harm people. I am very sorry that people have experienced my behaviour as negative,”
Executive Board President Annetje Ottow addressed the academic community as such: “We are talking here about … abuse of power, gender discrimination and the systematic vilification and belittling of staff. It also includes inappropriate behaviour with an element of sexual intimidation: ranging from comments right down to unwelcome physical contact with one of the members of staff,” said Ottow. “All of this was under the constant threat of harming the complainants’ careers.”
De Zeeuw acknowledges in his lawyer’s statement that he was refused access to university facilities during the ensuing inquiry after being alerted in May of allegations of inappropriate behaviour. According to the attorney, the university inquiry found evidence of sexual harassment in email exchanges and at least one “unwanted physical approach.” She argued, however, that certain media accounts of De Zeeuw’s “sexually deviant behaviour toward women” were untrue.
Following a week of controversy and rumours regarding the identity of the case’s culprit, coworkers were forced to officially deny their involvement. According to Dave Clements, an astronomer at Imperial College London, the university’s decision put ‘every male astronomer at the University of Leiden under suspicion’
Ottow justified the choice to withhold the harasser’s identity, obliging it to privacy laws and employment law, as De Zeeuw, is 66 and of retirement age.
According to Clements, De Zeeuw is a “major figure” in astronomy. In 1990, he was appointed as a professor at Leiden University. In 2003, he was named director of the Leiden Observatory. From 2007 to 2017, he served as director general of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), a 16-member intergovernmental organisation that manages some of the most cutting-edge telescopes in the world in Chile. His personal research focuses on the dynamics and structure of galaxies as well as their creation. He was also awarded the Order of the Netherlands Lion in 2018, which is conferred for outstanding service to the community. He also launched the De Zeeuw-Van Dishoeck Fund in 2014 to aid astronomy researchers in their early careers. He is married to fellow Leiden astronomer Ewine van Dishoeck
NRC says that in May, four women at the observatory complained about De Zeeuw to the Dean of the Faculty of Science, who immediately brought the matter to the Executive Board’s attention. De Zeeuw was placed on suspension while the university’s Complaints Committee for Unacceptable Behavior conducted an inquiry and rendered a decision last week.
Organisations that have ceased association with the professor include the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPI-EP) in Garching, Germany, which terminated their affiliation “with immediate effect,” according to the announcement. De Zeeuw worked at the institute as an “associate senior scientist,” and his webpage on the MPI-EP website has since been taken down.
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