Tusk buddy Dr. Chandra Wickramasinghe was gleefully invited by Durham University to give an evening lecture this April on the origin of life. And was cancelled today without courtesy or explanation. Queen Elizabeth II thought well enough of Chandra to appoint him, the year she died, to be a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).
Read the invitation and cancellation below for yourself.
Wickramasinghe cancellation
Fortunately, I have some time on my hands and intend to get to the bottom of this sickening insult to a great world scientists by a once great university. I am drafting a public inquiry and request for explanation to Hermine Landt-Wilman of Durham University now and will provide an update when it is sent.
Invitation to April lecture at the Durham IAU/Kavli meeting rescinded without a valid excuse…Racism? Cultural prejudice. pic.twitter.com/zXCf3JtmF6
— Professor Nalin Chandra Wickramasinghe (@Chandrawick) January 18, 2024
If you are on X, you may want to let Chandra and @durham_uni know you would like the invitation reissued.
The good news is Chandra was invited in June 2023 to Keynote the Cosmic Summit in Greensboro, North Carolina, on June 16th, 2024, around noon. He can say anything he cares too, because curious people like that.
Disrespectful to say the least. I findin this story, interesting news (to me) of Center for Cosmic Impact funding. I wonder how this will actually play out. Who is associated with this center ?