Dorian Abbot is a professor in the Department of the Geophysical Sciences at the University of Chicago. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Physics, Master of Science, and Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from Harvard University. His research employs mathematical and computational models to explore topics such as climate dynamics, planetary habitability, and exoplanetary atmospheres.
In 2021, Prof. Abbot was invited to give the prestigious John Carlson Lecture at MIT on the topic of the habitability of planets outside our Solar System. During the previous year, Prof. Abbot had made YouTube videos advocating to treat people as individuals and hiring them on that basis rather than on group identity. He then published an op-ed in Newsweek advocating Merit, Fairness, and Equality (MFE) in place of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) for faculty hiring and promotion. These public statements sparked a Twitter campaign to get Prof. Abbot disinvited from giving lectures at other universities, including MIT. Eight days later, MIT cancelled the John Carlson Lecture, and the chair of the Department of Earth, Atmospheric & Planetary Sciences (EAPS) publicly announced Prof. Abbot’s disinvitation. Prof. Abbot continues to speak and write on topics of academic freedom and free discourse and is actively involved in Heterodox STEM – the Heterodox Academy’s branch focused on science and engineering. In recognition of these contributions, he received the Hero of Intellectual Freedom Award from the American Council of Trustees and Alumni.
For his courage to pursue and publish free inquiry, the Columbia Academic Freedom Council is honored to present Prof. Dorian Abbot with the 2025 Academic Freedom Award.
