Nobel Prize-Winning Scientist Tim Hunt's Accuser's Main Accomplishment Seems To Be Lying About Her Accomplishments
Guy Adams writes for The Daily Mail about a British academic -- Connie St. Louis, pictured at the link -- whose account of what Sir Tim Hunt supposedly said at a conference led to his being "unceremoniously hounded out of honorary positions at University College London (UCL), the Royal Society and the European Research Council (ERC)." He was also attacked in the world press and on social media, and seems to be going through a good deal of pain over this -- as is his scientist wife.

But St. Louis's account, it turns out, has not been corroborated by others, and now there's an anonymous leaked account with a transcript of what Hunt "really said."

Crucially, it presented a very different take to the one which had been so energetically circulated by Connie St Louis.

The report began by confirming that Sir Tim had joked about falling in love with women in laboratories and 'making them cry'.

However, it said he'd prefaced those comments with an ironic introduction, joking that they would illustrate what a 'chauvinist monster' he was.

The report then revealed the existence of an entire second half of the controversial toast.
In it, Sir Tim was said to have told his audience that his remark about 'making them cry' was, indeed, an ironic joke.

He purportedly said, 'now seriously . . .' before going on to speak enthusiastically about the 'important role' women scientists play. He ended by joking that his largely female audience should pursue their trade, 'despite monsters like me'.

The report's author added: 'I didn't notice any uncomfortable silence or any awkwardness in the room as reported on social and then mainstream media,' going on to describe the speech as 'warm and funny'.

All of which, for quite understandable reasons, sparked further angry debate. Supporters of Sir Tim felt he had been vindicated. Among them was Professor Richard Dawkins, the evolutionary biologist, who said the leaked memo's contents showed Sir Tim to be 'the reverse of a chauvinist monster'.

If this account is true, Connie St. Louis's actions are yet another example of unaccomplished women using supposed "crimes" by men to gain unearned power over them and status in the world that they would never have otherwise.

In her case, this seems utterly understandable, considering how her "career" falls apart under the slightest scrutiny:

Perhaps, therefore, we should ask two other related questions: who exactly is Connie St Louis? And why, exactly, should we trust her word over that of a Nobel laureate?

A good place to start is the website of London's City University, where St Louis has, for more than a decade, been employed to run a postgraduate course in science journalism.
Here, on a page outlining her CV, she is described as follows:

'Connie St Louis . . . is an award-winning freelance broadcaster, journalist, writer and scientist.

'She presents and produces a range of programmes for BBC Radio 4 and BBC World Service . . . She writes for numerous outlets, including The Independent, Daily Mail, The Guardian, The Sunday Times, BBC On Air magazine and BBC Online.'

All very prestigious. Comforting, no doubt, for potential students considering whether to devote a year of their lives (and money) to completing an MA course under her stewardship. Except, that is for one small detail: almost all of these supposed 'facts' appear to be untrue.

For one thing, Connie St Louis does not 'present and produce' a range of programmes for Radio 4.

Her most recent work for the station, a documentary about pharmaceuticals called The Magic Bullet, was broadcast in October 2007.

For another, it's demonstrably false to say she 'writes' for The Independent, Daily Mail and The Sunday Times.

Digital archives for all three newspapers, which stretch back at least 20 years, contain no by-lined articles that she has written for any of these titles, either in their print or online editions. The Mail's accounts department has no record of ever paying her for a contribution.

Much more of this sort of thing at the link, including her claiming membership in the "Royal Institution":

Again, very prestigious. Or so it seems, until a spokesman for the Royal Institution told me: 'Anyone can be a member. It's simply a service you pay for which entitles you to free tickets to visit us and gives you a discount in our cafe.

'It's like having membership of your local cinema or gym.'

Why would someone include such a thing on their CV?

'Actually, that's a bit of a problem,' the spokesman added. 'We have heard of a few people using membership on their CV to imply that they have some sort of professional recognition or qualification. But it means nothing of the sort. It's very, very odd to see this on a CV.'