Statement on Intelligent Design
From University of Iowa Faculty

We, the undersigned faculty members at the University of Iowa, join our colleagues from Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa in rejecting all attempts to represent Intelligent Design as a scientific endeavor. Advocates of Intelligent Design claim the position of our planet and the complexity of particular life forms and processes are such that they may only be explained by the existence of a creator or designer of the universe.

Such claims, however, are premised on: 1) religious commitment rather than a serious effort to produce a hypothesis that is cogently reasoned and competitive with modern evolutionary biology in scope, explanatory power, and productivity of a rich array of research questions; 2) assumptions about the wishes and desires of the designer that are not independently verifiable and generate almost no predictions; and 3) an abandonment of methodological naturalism.

Methodological naturalism, the view that natural phenomena can be explained without reference to supernatural beings or events is, by far, historically the most successful research strategy of the natural sciences. The goal of science is to form hypotheses to explain the natural world around us. Scientific hypotheses must be falsifiable and tested by the evaluation of evidence obtained through observation and experimentation. The history of science contains many instances where complex natural phenomena were eventually understood only by adherence to methodological naturalism. However, we know of no instance in which a competition between two theories, one naturalistic and the other supernaturalistic, has been in the end won by the latter.

Whether one believes in a creator or not, views regarding a supernatural creator have not been developed by defenders of Intelligent Design in a manner that brings the hypothesis within the scope or abilities of good science. We, therefore, urge all faculty members to uphold the integrity of our university, and convey to students and the general public the importance of methodological naturalism in science and reject efforts to portray Intelligent Design as science.

Laird Addis
Professor Emeritus
Department of Philosophy

Jonathan M. Adrain
Associate Professor
Department of Geoscience

Nazan Aksan
Adjunct Faculty
Department of Psychology

Doug Allaire
Education Media Consultant
College of Education

Lee-Ann Allen
Associate Professor
Departments of Internal Medicine and Microbiology

R. David Arkush
Professor
Department of History

Mario Ascoli
Professor
Department of Pharmacology

Alice Atkinson
Associate Professor
Department of Teaching and Learning

Kendall Atkinson
Professor Emeritus
Departments of Mathematics and Computer Science

Douglas C. Baynton
Associate Professor
Departments of History and Speech Pathology and Audiology

Debashish Bhattacharya
Associate Professor
Department of Biological Sciences

Gina Bloom
Assistant Professor
Department of English

Stephen G. Bloom
Professor
Department of Journalism and Mass Communication

Mark S. Blumberg
Professor
Department of Psychology

Gail Boldt
Assistant Professor
Department of Teaching and Learning

Christopher A. Brochu
Assistant Professor
Department of Geoscience

Ann F. Budd
Professor
Department of Geoscience

Sarah Buss
Assistant Professor
Department of Philosophy

Martin D. Cassell
Professor
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology

Chi-Lien Cheng
Associate Professor
Department of Biological Sciences

Alan J. Christensen
Professor
Departments of Psychology and Internal Medicine

Russell L. Ciochon
Professor
Department of Anthropology

Lee Anna Clark
Professor
Department of Psychology

Josep M Comeron
Assistant Professor
Department of Biological Sciences

Robert A. Cornell
Assistant Professor
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology

Jane Cranston
Instructor
Department of Teaching and Learning

Laurie J. Croft
Administrator, Professional Development
The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center

Warren Darling
Associated Professor
Department of Exercise Science

William D. Davies
Professor
Department of Linguistics

Jeffrey Denburg
Professor
Department of Biological Sciences

Huston Diehl
Professor and Collegiate Fellow
Department of English

Frederick Domann
Associate Professor
Department of Radiation Oncology

Evan Fales
Associate Professor
Department of Philosophy

Bruce Fehn
Associate Professor
Department of Teaching and Learning

Michael Feiss
Professor
Department of Microbiology

Linda Fielding
Associate Dean, Teacher Education
College of Education, Department of Teaching and Learning

Don C. Fowles
Professor
Department of Psychology

Joseph Frankel
Professor
Department of Biological Sciences

John Freeman
Associate Professor
Department of Psychology

Minnetta V. Gardinier
Associate Professor
Department of Pharmacology

Kathryn Gerken
Director of Training and Internship Coordinator
Department of Psychological and Quantitative Foundations

Fred Gerr
Professor
Department of Occupational and Environmental Health

Eric Gidal
Associate Professor
Department of English

Jennifer Glass
Professor
Department of Sociology

Steven Green
Associate Professor
Departments of Biological Sciences and Otolaryngology

Paul Greenough
Professor
Department of History

Gary Gussin
Professor
Department of Biology

Lilach Hadany
Assistant Professor
Department of Biological Sciences

Sarah Hanley
Professor
Departments of History and Law

Eliot Hazeltine
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology

Philip H. Heckel
Professor
Department of Geoscience

Elizabeth Heineman
Associate Professor
Department of History

Stephen D. Hendrix
Professor
Department of Biological Sciences

Michael Henry
Associate Professor
Departments of Physiology and Biophysics and Pathology

Jonathan W. Heusel
Assistant Professor
Department of Pathology

Tamara Ho
Assistant Professor
Departments of Women's Studies and English

Andrew Hollingworth
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology

Matthew Howard
Associate Professor
Department of Neurology

Adrienne Carey Hurley
Assistant Professor
Department of Asian Languages and Literature

Damien Ihrig
Program Administrator
The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center

Beth Ingram
Professor
Department of Economics

Erin Irish
Associate Professor
Department of Biological Sciences

Debra L. Johnson
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology

Douglas W. Jones
Associate Professor
Department of Computer Science

Alan Kay
Associate Professor
Department of Biological Sciences

Pamela K. Keel
Associate Professor
Department of Psychology

Ralph Keen
Associate Professor
Department of Religious Studies

Linda K. Kerber
May Brodbeck Professor in the Liberal Arts & Sciences
Department of History

Joel N. Kline
Professor
Department of Medicine

William H. Klink
Professor
Department of Physics and Astronomy

Eva Klohnen
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology

C Michael Knudson
Associate Professor
Department of Pathology

John F. Knutson
Professor
Department of Psychology

Gregory Landini
Professor
Department of Philosophy

Brooks Landon
Professor
Department of English

Erika Lawrence
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology

Susan C. Lawrence
Associate Professor
Departments of History and Anatomy and Cell Biology

Steven M. Levy
Wright-Bush-Shreves Professor of Research
Departments of Preventive & Community Dentistry and Epidemiology

Ellen Lewin
Professor
Departments of Women's Studies and Anthropology

Jack Lilien
Professor and Chair
Department of Biological Sciences

Jim Jung-Ching Lin
Professor
Department of Biological Sciences

John M. Logsdon
Assistant Professor
Department of Biological Sciences

Lola Lopes
Associate Provost and Professor
Departments of Management & Organizations and Psychology

Steven J Luck
Professor
Department of Psychology

Gabriele Ludewig
Assistant Professor
Department of Occupational and Environmental Health

Robert E. Malone
Professor
Department of Biology

Teresa Mangum
Associate Professor
Departments of English and International Programs

James N. Marchman
Professor
Department of Psychology

Katherine Mathews
Associate Professor
Department of Pediatrics

Linda Maxson
Dean and UI Alumni Association Chair
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

Bryant McAllister
Assistant Professor
Department of Biological Sciences

Linda McCarter
Associate Professor
Department of Microbiology

Karla K. McGregor
Associate Professor
Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology

Geoffrey McLennan
Professor
Departments of Medicine, Bioengineering and Radiology

Bob McMurray
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology

John R. Menninger
Professor
Department of Biological Sciences

Joyce L. Moore
Associate Professor
Department of Psychological and Quantitative Foundations

Scott Moye-Rowley
Professor
Department of Physiology and Biophysics

Jeffrey C. Murray
Professor
Department of Pediatrics

Alan F. Nagel
Professor (Emeritus)
Department of English

Peter E. Nathan
Professor
Department of Psychology

William M. Nauseef
Professor
Departments of Medicine and Microbiology

Christine Novak
Associate Clinical Professor
Department of Psychological and Quantitative Foundations

Lisa M. Oakes
Professor
Department of Psychology

Gregg Oden
Professor
Departments of Psychology and Computer Science

Henry Paulson
Associate Professor
Department of Neurology

David W. Peate
Assistant Professor
Department of Geoscience

Sriram Pemmaraju
Associate Professor
Department of Computer Science

Mark Peterson
Associate Professor
Department of History

Jodie Plumert
Professor
Department of Psychology

Amy Poremba
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology

Mark Reagan
Associate Professor
Department of Geoscience

Jon Ringen
Professor
Literature, Science, and the Arts

Larry W. Robertson
Professor
Department of Occupational and Environmental Health

Scott R. Robinson
Associate Professor
Department of Psychology

Joshua S. Rodefer
Assistant Research Scientist
Department of Psychology

Dennis Roseman
Professor
Department of Mathematics

Larissa Samuelson
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology

Jeffry Schabilion
Professor
Department of Biological Sciences

Johanna Schoen
Associate Professor
Departments of History and Women's Studies

Brian C Schutte
Associate Professor
Department of Pediatrics

Leslie A. Schwalm
Associate Professor
Departments of History and Women's Studies

Alberto Maria Segre
Professor and Associate Chair
Department of Computer Science

Michael Shasby
Professor
Department of Internal Medicine

Thomas K Shires
Professor
Department of Pharmacology

Curt D. Sigmund
Professor
Departments of Internal Medicine and Physiology and Biophysics

Tom Simmons
Associate Professor
Department of English

Hallie J. Sims
Assistant Professor
Department of Geosciences

Jacob O. Sines
Professor Emeritus
Department of Psychology

Roumyana Slabakova
Associate Professor
Department of Linguistics

Tara C. Smith
Assistant Professor
Department of Epidemiology

David R. Soll
Carver/Emil Witschi Professor
Department of Biological Sciences

Karin A. Southard
Professor
Department of Orthodontics

Tom Southard
Professor and Chair
Department of Orthodontics

Eugene Spaziani
Emeritus Professor of Biology
Department of Biological Sciences

John P. Spencer
Associate Professor
Department of Psychology

Claire Sponsler
Professor
Department of English

Jack T. Stapleton
Professor
Department of Internal Medicine

Barbara Stay
Professor
Department of Biological Sciences

Christopher Stipp
Assistant Professor
Department of Biological Sciences

Jason Telford
Assistant Professor
Department of Chemistry

Geb Thomas
Associate Professor
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering

Peter Thorne
Professor
Department of Occupational and Environmental Health

Robert Thunhorst
Research Scientist
Department of Psychology

Christopher Turner
Professor
Departments of Speech Pathology and Audiology and Otolarygology

Robert van Deusen
Instructor
Department of Teaching and Learning

Shaun Vecera
Associate Professor
Department of Psychology

Veronica J. Vieland
Professor & Head
Departments of Public Health Genetics and Psychiatry

Wei-yeh Wang
Professor
Department of Biological Sciences

M. Todd Washington
Assistant Professor
Department of Biochemistry

Edward A. Wasserman
Professor
Department of Psychology

David Watson
F. Wendell Miller Professor
Department of Psychology

Joshua A. Weiner
Assistant Professor
Department of Biological Sciences

David Weiss
Associate Professor
Department of Microbiology

Kathryn F. Whitmore
Associate Professor
Department of Teaching and Learning

Paul Windschitl
Associate Professor
Department of Psychology