Leonard, who did not return phone messages or e-mails left by The Lantern last week, conducted his graduate work as a biology teacher at Hilliard Davidson.
The three professors also complained that, although Leonard's dissertation deals with the teaching of evolution, "no member of his dissertation committee is a science educator or an evolutionary biologist."
Robert DiSilvestro, OSU professor of human nutrition in the College of Human Ecology and a member of Leonard's dissertation committee, said he had heard nothing outside of the media about an investigation. "I'm waiting for the university to talk to us directly rather than through the media. I'm trying to give them a chance to do this the right way."
Anderson responded to the professors' letter by sending a letter to Peter V. Paul, chairman of the School of Teaching and Learning, that said the letter from the professors, "does raise some reasonable concerns about the composition of the (dissertation) Committee, and the likelihood that Mr. Leonard's dissertation will receive the kind of objective evaluation that the degree of Ph. D. requires." It continued by asking that Paul conduct an investigation of the qualifications of the dissertation committee and the other "reservations" expressed in the OSU professors' letter.
In an e-mail to The Lantern, Paul said that the Teaching and Learning Graduate Studies Committee is investigating these issues and will have no further comment until "we have submitted our letter to the Graduate School by the end of (this) week."
This is not the first time Leonard's views have aroused controversy.
He helped prepare a life science curriculum for 10th graders adopted on a 13-5 vote by the Ohio Board of Education last year. The lesson plan was entitled, "A Critical Analysis of Evolution."
"This lesson plan has been condemned by several organizations, including (but not limited to) the National Academy of Sciences, The Ohio Academy of Science, the Science Education Council of Ohio and the Faculty Council and Senate of The Ohio State University," the three professors said in their letter to Anderson.
2008 Woodie Awards
