James Sherley

James Sherley

James Sherley

20-Jun-2007 The Post Hunger Strike Correspondence (19-Mar to 13-Jun)

18-Jun-2007 PLEASE JOIN James Sherley EACH DAY AT NOON AT MIT 77 MASS. AVE. TO "SAY NO TO JUNE 30" AND SAY YES TO FAIR INCLUSION AT MIT!

12-Jun-2007 NPR interviews Professor Sherley and Chancellor Clay.

4-Jun-2007 MIT center director resigns in protest of tenure decision (Boston Globe, Peter Schworm)

31-May-2007 BBJ: Tension at MIT (Video).

May-2007: Post Hunger Strike Update: Continued Dishonesty by MIT Administration

  • 18-May: Email to Hockfield about Dedon & MIT Police.
  • 4,7,15-May: The MIT Tech: Sherley & Reif
  • 17-Apr: Manning Letter

    16-Feb: NEWS from MIT & James: end of fast

  • 16-Feb at 7:30 AM: Alternative to MIT-MLK Featured Speaker: J. Lorand Matory Harvard Professor of Anthropology and of African and African American Studies.

  • 16-Feb MIT The Tech: Racism Claims Lack Evidence , MLK Display Vandalized
  • An open letter in support of James Sherley Sylvia Sanders.

  • CNN transcript CNN interview: Feb. 13, 2007 8pm Paula Zahn "Racism in America"

  • Nature Network coverage

  • A Plea For Fairness at MIT. 6-Feb-2007. Anyone who would like to add their name in support of the above letter please contact: church (at) mit.edu with Sherley in the subject line.

  • James Sherley will be outside the Provost's office (MIT room 3-208) 9 AM to Noon, daily beginning 5-Feb-2007. He will give a brief talk on series of related topics and lead discussions at 10AM daily (Schedule & mp3 recordings). People who would like to sign up to "stand with" James outside of 3-208 please click here (OR stop by whenever you have a few minutes).

    Voice your concerns to the MIT Corporation & Alumni

    The MIT Corporation
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Ave, 7-203
Cambridge MA 02139

Email contact & see Individual members
Telephone:   617-253-2058
Fax :  617-253-8544

Dana G. Mead
Chairman of the Corporation
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Room 5-205
Cambridge, MA 02139
Email: dmead@mit.edu

Alexander V. d'Arbeloff
Honorary Chairman of the Corporation
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Room E52-586
Cambridge, MA 02139
Email: alexdarb@mit.edu

Martin Y. Tang,
President of the Association of Alumni and Alumnae of MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Room 10-110
Cambridge MA 02139

The MIT Alumni Association
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Avenue, 10-110
Cambridge MA 02139-4307

Email:  aacomments@mit.edu
Telephone:   617-253-8200
Telephone toll free in US & Canada:
800-MIT-1865 (800-648-1865)
Fax:   617-258-7886

    Accomplishments

    2006 NIH Director's Pioneer Award , Pew Scholar , Ellison Scholar, MIT's Trailblazer and MLK Leadership Awards, NIH Center for Excellence in Genome Science co-Principal Investigator, 62 publications (28 pubmed), 119 invited seminars, 18 patents pending (1 licensed). See also Laboratory page, Stem cell research accomplishments example.

    Facts on Rates of Minority Faculty Tenure in the U.S.

  • "Unlike academia, however, the NIH has a Congressional mandate to end health disparities.[3] Further, given its stature and the level of public support the NIH receives, one might expect things to be different there. However, that's not the case. Black scientists now represent less than 1% of all tenured investigators, and 1.5% of all tenure-track investigators at the NIH. Those numbers are actually worse than they were a decade ago, when the figures were 2% and 4.5%, respectively, and those figures reflect national trends." Full article at

  • "This trend continues in the representation of blacks among tenured and tenure-track faculty of "top 50" chemistry departments. Of these coveted positions, just 1.1 percent went to blacks in FY2001, 1.2 percent in FY2003, and 1.3 percent in FY2005 (blue diamonds). Thus, while progress of blacks at the faculty level is measurable, at the current rate of 0.05 percent per year increase, to reach parity with their 2004 representations among chemistry Ph.D. recipients, chemistry B.S. recipients, and the general population, it will take African-Americans over 56 years, 150 years, and 234 years, respectively." Full article

  • You Need a Microscope to Find Black Academics in the Biology Department of the Nation's Highest-Ranked Universities The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, No. 30. (Winter, 2000-2001), pp. 8-11.

    Post Feb 5th News

  • Tech Page 1 13-Feb-2007
  • Images from the Protest Site
  • Times of India coverage
  • Is There a Place for Community at MIT? Lotte Bailyn.
  • MIT Professor Stages Hunger Strike to Protest Tenure Decision Bloomberg.com, by Matthew Keenan, 6-Feb-2007  Story
  • MIT prof.'s hunger strike protests denied tenure; Alleges MIT racism, cites then-Provost Robert Brown. BU Daily Free Press, by Matthew Huisman, 6-Feb-2007  Story
  • Starving for attention BU Daily Free Press, editorial, 6-Feb-2007  Story
  • Professor begins hunger strike after being denied tenure CNN.com, by Associated Press, 6-Feb-2007  Story
  • Stem cell professor goes on hunger strike The Guardian Unlimited, UK, the Observer Blog, by Alexandra Smith, 6-Feb-2007  Story
  • MIT Professor Goes On Hunger Strike KITV, Honolulu, by Associated Press, 6-Feb-2007  Story
  • MIT Stem Cell Researcher Begins Hunger Strike Over Tenure Denial LifeNews.com, by Steven Ertelt, 6-Feb-2007  Story
  • The Story Behind MIT Professor's Hunger StrikeThe Rush Limbaugh Show, commentary by Rush Limbaugh, 6-Feb-2007  Story [2nd web page on this site titled "Let Him Starve!" is subscriber-only.]
  • MIT Tech See pages 1,5,10. 6-Feb-2007.
  • WCVB-TV/ABC Channel 5 video. 5-Feb-2007.
  • Student meeting Monday 5-Feb 5pm - 6:30pm MIT 56-114 Students may submit questions they would like Professor Sherley to address by sending an email to: nakeisha (at) mit.edu
  • Chomsky & other MIT faculty call for review of MIT professor's case 5-Feb-2007.
  • MIT professor starts hunger strike. 5-Feb-2007
  • Hungry for Answers Anne-Marie Dorning. ABC News. 5-Feb-2007.

    Pre-Feb 5th News coverage

  • Public statement by Provost Reif. 29-Jan-2007.
  • Response from Dr. Sherley: A second plea for help to end racism at MIT
  • No tenure, no food by Ishani Ganguli, The Scientist Magazine. 10-Jan-2007.
  • BE Professor Threatens Hunger Strike to Protest Tenure Denial by Joyce Kwan MIT-Tech 10-Jan-2007.
  • MIT professor threatens hunger strike over tenure issue by Brian Kladko, Boston Business Journal, 22-Dec2006.
  • MIT professor vows hunger strike over tenure Says racism was behind denial by Marcella Bombardieri, Boston Globe 23-Dec-2006.
  • Scientist: Racism hurt him at MIT by Marcella Bombardieri and Gareth Cook, The Boston Globe, 14-Jan-2005.
  • The Petition to appeal. 21-Jan-2005.
    Updated Sat 17-Feb-2007 9:40 AM EST (-5 GMT)