NEW YORK — James Watson, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist who was widely criticized for recent comments suggesting that black people are less intelligent than whites, retired last week from his post at a prestigious research institution.
Watson, 79, and the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York announced his departure Thursday, a week after the lab suspended him. He was chancellor of the institution, and his retirement took effect immediately.
Watson shared a Nobel Prize with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins in 1962 for co-discovering the structure of the DNA molecule. He is one of America's most prominent scientists.
In his statement Thursday, Watson said that because of his age, his retirement was "more than overdue. The circumstances in which this transfer is occurring, however,are not those which I could ever have anticipated or desired."
Watson ran into trouble earlier this month for remarks he made in London's Sunday Times Magazine. A profile quoted him as saying that he's "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa" because "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours - whereas all the testing says not really."
He said that while he hopes everyone is equal, "people who have to deal with black employees find this is not true." Healso said people should not be discriminated against because of their race, adding that "there are many people of color who are very talented."
He later apologized, issuing a statement saying, "There is no scientific basis for such a belief."
Bruce Stillman, the president of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, said at the time that the comments have no connection with research activities at the lab, whose faculty members "vehemently disagree." The lab suspended Watson's administrativeresponsibilities as chancellor on Oct. 18.
Watson had served at the lab for nearly 40 years, having been named director in 1968. He was its president from 1994 to 2003. Under his direction, the laboratory investigated the genetic causes of cancer, plant biology, neuroscience and computational biology, according to a statement the lab issued Thursday about Watson's retirement.
Information for this article was contributed by Malcolm Ritter of The Associated Press and Robin Shulman of The Washington Post.
Front Section, Pages 2 on 10/31/2007