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June 15, 2015

Proceedings of the Natural Institute of Science | Volume 2 | SCI-NEWS 4

Tim Hunt unsure to which Nobel laureate he’ll pass the bigot baton

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – First there was Nobel laureate James Watson making sexist remarks in 2003 and racist remarks in 2007. Then, during remarks at last week’s World Conference of Science Journalists, it was Nobel laureate Sir Tim Hunt faulting female scientists for crying when being criticized and falling too easily in love with him. Now, Sir Hunt has a decision to make: which Nobel laureate will he anoint as the next Nobel Bigot.

It’s a tradition as old as the prize itself—about every couple of years, one Nobel laureate, preferably one that worked at the University of Cambridge, will make an offensive statement and then secretly select another Nobel laureate to make future derogatory remarks (in 2003, James Watson made the bold decision to designate himself).

Sir Hunt is excited at the opportunity to choose his successor. “I have a list of candidates with which I’ll conduct face to face interviews over the next few weeks,” Hunt said. “I don’t want to ruin the fun and name names, but rest assured that there will be no women on this list. I’d rather not put up with their crying when I ask them a tough question. Plus, I’m a married man, and I don’t wait to upset any female candidates when I have to turn down their eventual romantic advances.”

Although Hunt will conduct his interviews in the coming weeks, he’s not expected to announce his decision until after the Nobel prizes for 2015 are announced. “I don’t want to miss a rising star in bigotry, so I’ll hold off on being too hasty with my decision.”

As for his own sexist remarks, Sir Hunt was pleased with how they turned out. “Watsy boy set a pretty high bar by offending blacks, women, and overweight people,” said Hunt, referring to what is now known as the Watson Bigot Trifecta. “I was hoping to at least rise to that level of offensiveness. If I fell short, though, don’t blame me. It was hard to concentrate with all the attractive women in the room ogling me the whole time.”