Dorian Abbot

Dorian Schuyler Abbot is an American geophysicist. He is an associate professor at the University of Chicago.

Dorian Abbot
Born
Dorian Schuyler Abbot
EducationHarvard University (BA, MS, PhD)
Scientific career
FieldsGeophysics
InstitutionsUniversity of Chicago
ThesisA high-latitude convective cloud feedback (2008)
Doctoral advisorEli Tziperman

Education

Abbot completed a A.B. (2004) in physics and a S.M. (2004) and Ph.D. (2008) in applied mathematics at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. His dissertation was titled A high-latitude convective cloud feedback.[1] Abbot's doctoral advisor was Eli Tziperman. From 2008 to 2009, he was a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University. Abbot conducted post doctoral research in geophysical sciences from 2009 to 2011 at the University of Chicago.[2]

Career

Abbot became an assistant professor of geophysical sciences at University of Chicago in 2011. He became an associate professor in 2015. Abbot uses low-order mathematical models and numerical models to research climates, paleoclimates, planetary habitability, and exoplanets.[2][3]

MIT Lecture Cancellation

Abbot was invited to give the 2020 John Carlson Lecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a public science outreach later rescheduled to October 2021, then cancelled in September of that year after complaints on Twitter about a Newsweek editorial co-written by Abbot and Stanford professor Ivan Marinovic.[4][5] In the editorial Abbot and Marinovic argued for greater focus on academic excellence and individual achievement in University admissions, suggested scrapping legacy and athletic admission advantages, and criticized some aspects of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion initiatives. They recalled how the racial ideology of Nazi Germany "drove many of the best scholars out" of the universities, and called this "a warning of the consequences of viewing group membership as more important than merit".[6][7]

MIT explained the cancellation by stating that the public outreach lecture was meant to showcase a role model who inspires a broad group of young people, and they instead invited Abbot to give a standard departmental seminar at MIT.[8][9] Abbot ultimately delivered his lecture on planetary science to a large audience hosted by the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University on the same day as the cancelled event.[10] Abbot was a guest on Tucker Carlson Tonight[11] and CNN[12] to discuss the cancellation and received a Hero of Intellectual Freedom Award from the American Council of Trustees and Alumni.[10]

The barrage of negative press and public outrage resulting from Abbot's cancellation led MIT to hold two forums at which faculty were polled on two free speech questions. That a large majority felt that their voices are constrained at MIT revealed the need for decisive action. The MIT Free Speech Alliance (MFSA) was formed to call for such action.[13] On December 27, 2022, the MIT faculty voted by a roughly 2 to 1 margin to adopt a formal university statement on freedom of expression.[14] On April 4, 2023, the resolution “Academic DEI programs should be abolished” was debated on the MIT campus.[15]

Publications

Abbot's most cited publications are:

  • Hoffman PF, Abbot DS, Ashkenazy Y, Benn DI, Brocks JJ, Cohen PA, Cox GM, Creveling JR, Donnadieu Y, Erwin DH, Fairchild IJ. Snowball Earth climate dynamics and Cryogenian geology-geobiology. Science Advances. 2017 Nov 1;3(11):e1600983. open access. According to Google Scholar, cited 248 times [16]
  • Palmer PI, Abbot DS, Fu TM, Jacob DJ, Chance K, Kurosu TP, Guenther A, Wiedinmyer C, Stanton JC, Pilling MJ, Pressley SN. Quantifying the seasonal and interannual variability of North American isoprene emissions using satellite observations of the formaldehyde column. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres. 2006 Jun 27;111(D12). open access. According to Google Scholar, cited 245 times [16]
  • Yang J, Cowan NB, Abbot DS. Stabilizing cloud feedback dramatically expands the habitable zone of tidally locked planets. The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 2013 Jun 27;771(2):L45. According to Google Scholar, cited 225 times [16]
  • Abbot DS, Voigt A, Koll D. The Jormungand global climate state and implications for Neoproterozoic glaciations. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres. 2011 Sep 27;116(D18). open access. According to Google Scholar, cited 245 times [16]
  • Yang J, Boué G, Fabrycky DC, Abbot DS. Strong dependence of the inner edge of the habitable zone on planetary rotation rate. The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 2014 Apr 25;787(1):L2. According to Google Scholar, cited 136 times [16]
  • Abbot DS, Cowan NB, Ciesla FJ. Indication of insensitivity of planetary weathering behavior and habitable zone to surface land fraction. The Astrophysical Journal. 2012 Aug 24;756(2):178. According to Google Scholar, cited 129 times [16]

References
  1. Abbot, Dorian Schuyler (2008). A high-latitude convective cloud feedback (Ph.D. thesis). Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. OCLC 934916756.
  2. Abbot, Dorian. "Curriculum Vitae" (PDF). University of Chicago. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-10-16. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
  3. "Dorian Abbot". People. University of Chicago Geophysical Sciences. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
  4. Flaherty, Colleen (19 October 2021). "MIT deals with fallout from canceled lecture". Inside Higher Ed. Archived from the original on 2021-10-19. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
  5. Sobey, Rick (5 October 2021). "MIT cancels professor lecture after backlash against him, university cites 'distractions'". Boston Herald. Archived from the original on 2021-10-06. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
  6. Abbot, Dorian S.; Marinovic, Ivan (12 August 2021). "The diversity problem on campus - Opinion". Newsweek. Retrieved 2021-10-29.
  7. Knott, Matthew (22 October 2021). "When Dorian Abbot's MIT lecture was cancelled, it lit a free-speech firestorm about diversity". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2021-10-29.
  8. Powell, Michael (20 October 2021). "M.I.T.'s Choice of Lecturer Ignited Criticism. So Did Its Decision to Cancel". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2021-10-20. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
  9. Schmidt, Martin (7 October 2021). "Letter to the community from MIT provost". MIT. Archived from the original on 2021-10-11. Retrieved 2021-10-24.
  10. Mayberry, Carly (12 October 2021). "Geophysicist 'Canceled' by MIT Honored With Award While Thousands Register for His Lecture". Newsweek. Archived from the original on 2021-10-12. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  11. Creitz, Charles (20 October 2021). "Professor Dorian Abbot: I was canceled for basing admissions on merit". Fox News. Archived from the original on 2021-10-21. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  12. "Politics overshadowing scientific work". CNN. 23 October 2021. Retrieved 2021-10-29.
  13. "MIT Free Speech Alliance (MFSA)". MIT Free Speech Alliance. MIT Free Speech Alliance. Retrieved 2023-05-06. The barrage of negative press and public outrage resulting from MIT cancelling Dr. Abbot ...
  14. Peter Bonilla and Eric Rasmusen (ed.). "MIT Faculty Vote to Accept New Free Expression Statement Supported by MIT Free Speech Alliance". MIT Free Speech Alliance (Press release). MIT Free Speech Alliance. Archived from the original on 2023-05-06. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  15. Peter Bonilla (ed.). "First of-Its-Kind Debate on a U.S. Campus of Diversity-Equity-Inclusion Occurs Peacefully at MIT". MIT Free Speech Alliance (Press release). MIT Free Speech Alliance. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  16. "Google Scholar". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2021-11-02.
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