Chemistry professors decry firing of colleague at NYU

Abstract

The firing of New York University (NYU) chemistry professor Maitland Jones Jr. after students complained about one of his organic chemistry classes has prompted concern and dismay among others in the academic chemistry community. As revealed in an Oct. 3 article in the New York Times , Jones was dismissed at the beginning of the fall semester after the university received a petition from 82 of his 350 students last spring complaining about low grades and the difficulty of an organic chemistry course taken by many nonmajors. “I’m very disturbed by it being a decision made by the dean’s office, not by the Chemistry Department,” says David Schuster, an emeritus chemistry professor at NYU. Schuster says he has been in touch with several of his former colleagues and current Chemistry Department members at NYU, all of whom object to the university’s action. The news “was startling on many levels,” says