Renowned UC Irvine Geneticist Resigns Over Sexual Harassment; Name Removed From School Buildings
IRVINE (CBSLA) – A renowned geneticist with the University of California, Irvine has resigned after an investigation revealed that he sexually harassed three faculty members and a graduate student.
Eighty-four-year-old Dr. Francisco J. Ayala, a former Dominican priest, resigned effective July 1, according to a news release from the university Thursday.
Both the UCI School of Biological Sciences and the Science Library bore his name, which is being removed from both buildings, along with several graduate fellowships, scholar programs and endowed chairs, the school said.
The Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity began investigating Ayala in November 2017 when four women in the School of Biological Sciences filed harassment reports against him.
After conducting interviews with more than 60 people, in May the OEOD "substantiated a number of sexual harassment claims" against Ayala.
"I thank and commend our colleagues who reported this misconduct," Chancellor Howard Gillman said. "Coming forward with this information was extremely courageous. I applaud their bravery and apologize that they experienced inappropriate behavior from a member of our faculty. Professor Ayala's behavior defied our core beliefs and was inconsistent with our policies, guidelines and required training. Given the number and breadth of the substantiated allegations, and the power differentials at play, I decided that keeping Professor Ayala's name in a position of honor would be wrong."
In 2011, Ayala donated $10 million to the School of Biological Sciences. It was the largest gift from a faculty member at the time.
Micha Liberty, an attorney who represents three of the women, said UCI ignored years of complaints from professors and graduate students that Ayala touched them and made sexual and sexist comments. She said one of the professors she is representing reported Ayala' conduct three years ago, but university officials failed to investigate or sanction him.
"They just told him, `stay away from her,"' Liberty said. "Dr. Ayala has had a long and successful career and was clearly an asset to the UCI campus, and that in turn motivated UCI to look the other way when it came to complaints of sexual harassment."
The women who filed the complaints asked to be identified. They are Kathleen Treseder, professor and chair of ecology and evolutionary biology; Jessica Pratt, an assistant teaching professor; Benedicte Shipley, an assistant dean; and Michelle Herrera, a graduate student.
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