Imperial College London will add the name of an ethnic minority scientist to the building named in honour of one of its founding fathers who was accused of ‘scientific racism’.

The university faced calls to remove a bust of 19th century biologist Thomas Huxley and rename the Huxley building, named in his honour, after accusations of racism were made by its independent history group.

The group, formed in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 to examine Imperial college’s links to colonialism, argued that Huxley wrote an essay in 1865 which ‘espouses a racial hierarchy of intelligence, a belief system of “scientific racism” that fed the dangerous and false ideology of eugenics’.

The college this week said it would retain the name and bust of Huxley, but would consider a joint name for the building, with the aim of adding a minority ethnic scientist alongside Huxley, The Times reported.

Thomas Huxley (1825-1895) was a famed English biologist and a founder of the Royal College of Science, later Imperial College, the institution which examined its links with him

Imperial College this week said it would retain the name of the Huxley building (pictured), but would consider a joint name for the building, with the aim of adding a minority ethnic scientist

The university said it would provide a complete understanding of Huxley’s ‘complex character’ by putting his name ‘into a fuller context’.

This, the university claimed, would mean his flaws and ‘racially prejudiced writings’ would be included alongside historical context.

Imperial said it was also taking a similar approach to the Beit building and statue, named after Alfred and Otto Beit, brothers who were 19th century Anglo-German gold and diamond magnates.

Alice Gast, Imperial’s president, told The Times: ‘The community’s research, reflection, and debate about our history is a tribute to our commitment to freedom of speech and open dialogue.

‘We are committed to furthering understanding and learning from the fullness of our history — including both its inspiring and difficult aspects.’

Huxley, a famed English biologist and a founder of the Royal College of Science, later Imperial College, is celebrated as the biologist who discovered that birds descended from dinosaurs.

But the independent history group published a report in October which concluded he ‘might now be called racist’ and suggested the removal of his bust, as well as renaming the Huxley building.

But a group of 39 leading scientists, including Prof Richard Dawkins and Nobel laureate Sir Prof Paul Nurse, objected to the report’s characterisation of Huxley, and asked Imperial College not to cut its links with him. 

Their letter stated: ‘Huxley was an ardent abolitionist who fought the virulent pro-slavery scientific racism of his day and publicly welcomed the defeat of the Confederacy in 1865,” they say.

‘From childhood poverty, Huxley rose on merit to become President of the Royal Society and Privy Counsellor.

‘”Darwin’s Bulldog”, he fought for the theory of evolution, and first demonstrated our evolutionary descent from an ape-like ancestor.’

Although the scientists admitted Huxley believed in a hierarchy of races, they stated that he became wary of racial stereotypes as he aged.

They added that Huxley ‘reformed London’s schools, was a principal of a working men’s college, wrote volumes of journalism, gave lectures for working people and opened his classes to women’.

Prof Armand Leroi, an expert in evolutionary developmental biology at Imperial College, described the history group’s suggestions as ‘frankly shocking’ and said many members of staff were ‘outraged’ – especially the biologists. 

An independent history group formed in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 reassessed Huxley and suggested his bust should be removed from the campus, but this week Imperial decided to keep it in place, providing a complete understanding of the ‘complex character’ by putting his name ‘into a fuller context’

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