No progress on Science head search

A rumored candidate denies being under consideration

Written byKerry Grens

| 3 min read

A potential candidate has denied she's in the running to replace Donald Kennedy as editor-in-chief of Science magazine, and the journal has still not released information about the search committee and candidates for the position.In a previous report by The Scientist, a source named Marcia McNutt, president of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, as a potential candidate for the position. McNutt, however, told The Scientist in an Email, "I agreed to be on the search committee, so clearly I am not a candidate. That would be an outright conflict of interest. What you read is pure speculation. Nothing more."A reader of The Scientist commented that John Coffin, a professor at Tufts University and director of the HIV Drug Resistance Program at the National Cancer Institute, would make an "excellent choice" as Science's new editor-in-chief. Coffin, who served on the editorial review board of Science for nearly a decade, and is currently on the editorial board of PNAS, told The Scientist he has not been contacted by the search committee. "I have no idea if any of the people on the search committee have considered it," Coffin said. He said he is not a member of the search committee. And though the position would be difficult to fit into his current career obligations, "I would look into it," he said.Another name to get thrown into the pot of possible candidates is Bruce Alberts, a biochemist at the University of California, San Francisco, and former president of the National Academy of Sciences. Alberts has "vast experience" both as a leader in science and in policy, Thomas James, chair of the pharmaceutical chemistry department at UCSF told The Scientist. "The respect people have for him and his good judgment as well would make him a good strong leader for Science," James added, though he noted he is unaware of the search committee's progress and whether Alberts is under consideration. Alberts declined to be interviewed for comment, though his assistant said Alberts is unaware whether he is under consideration by the search committee.The American Association for the Advancement of Science, which publishes Science, has declined to disclose any information on the search, including when it is expected to end, who is on the search committee, and who are possible candidates; this week, a AAAS spokesperson, Natasha Pinol, said she had "no information to offer" on the search. McNutt wrote that she "can't confirm anything" regarding the activities of the search committee. PNAS editor Randy Schekman, who was asked to submit names to the search committee, said in an Email that there is "nothing new that I am aware of."Other leaders in science who were named as having the qualities appropriate for the next editor-in-chief included Steven Chu, the director of Lawrence Berkeley Labs, Shirley Tilghman, the president of Princeton University, and David Baltimore, Caltech professor and AAAS president. The press office at Princeton declined an interview with Tilghman, and the others did not return phone requests for comment.Kennedy began as editor-in-chief in 2000. His tenure has been characterized by advocacy for science, high profile retractions, and a commitment to representing diverse scientific fields in Science. Let us know who you think would be a good candidate by clicking here. Anonymous tips welcome.Kerry Grens mail@the-scientist.comLinks within this article:Donald Kennedy http://www.sciencemag.org/help/about/management.dtl#section_donald-kennedy-editor-in-chiefK. Grens, "Who will replace Don Kennedy?" The Scientist, July 30, 2007. http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/53447/Marcia McNutt http://www.mbari.org/staff/marcia/John Coffin http://www.tufts.edu/sackler/microbiology/lab/coffin/Bruce Alberts http://www.ucsf.edu/alberts/Thomas James http://www.jameslab.ucsf.edu/American Association for the Advancement of Science http://www.aaas.org/Randy Schekman http://mcb.berkeley.edu/labs/schekman/S. Pincock, "Hwang requests Science retraction," The Scientist, December 16, 2005. http://www.the-scientist.com/news/20051216/02

Meet the Author

Kerry Grens

Kerry served as The Scientist’s news director until 2021. Before joining The Scientist in 2013, she was a stringer for Reuters Health, the senior health and science reporter at WHYY in Philadelphia, and the health and science reporter at New Hampshire Public Radio. Kerry got her start in journalism as a AAAS Mass Media fellow at KUNC in Colorado. She has a master’s in biological sciences from Stanford University and a biology degree from Loyola University Chicago.

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