Carole Hooven is an educator, author and behavioral endocrinologist whose last academic job was as a lecturer and co-director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. Over a 20-year career, Dr. Hooven became a beloved teacher at Harvard, who was repeatedly voted one of the graduating seniors’ “Favorite Professors,” taught a Hormones and Behavior class that was named one of The Harvard Crimson’s “top ten tried and true”, and received the highest possible evaluations on her last undergraduate seminar.
In 2020, Dr. Hooven published her book, T: The Story ofTestosterone, the Hormone that Dominates and Divides Us. The book became extremely popular (recently becoming the subject of a Jeopardy question) and received excellent reviews from the popular press and academic journals. Among the qualities praised were the book’s ability to entertain while educating and to balance respect for the scientific evidence regarding the binary nature of sex with unwavering respect and compassion for the wishes and dignity of each individual. Nevertheless, the book -- combined with Dr. Hooven’s appearance on Fox and Friends-- led to allegations of “transphobic and harmful remarks” from the director of her department’s DEI task force. Such accusations continued for months and, combined with the absence of any backing from Harvard’s administration, forced Dr. Hooven to retire from Harvard in January 2023.
Despite the heavy toll of this horrific experience, Dr. Hooven has continued to defend scientific accuracy and academic freedom. She contributed to the formation of the Harvard Academic Freedom Council, participated in multiple podcasts, and wrote numerous articles including “The Problem with Saying Sex Assigned at Birth,” for The New York Times; why “There really are only two sexes” for The Boston Globe; “Why Men Dominate Chess,” for Quillette; and “Why I Left Harvard,” for The Free Press. Her TED Talk on testosterone and sex differences in play is here (on TED.com). She is the recipient of the “Hero of Intellectual Freedom Award” from the American Council of Trustees and Alumni.
For her unrelenting courage and devotion to scientific integrity despite great personal hardships, the Columbia Academic Freedom Council is honored to present Dr. Carole Hooven with the 2025 Academic Freedom Award.
