Jeff Schmidt is aphysicist who wrote the 2000 bookDisciplined Minds, a critique of the socialization and training of professionals.[1]
Schmidt wasfired from his job of 19 years as an associate editor forPhysics Today, the magazine of theAmerican Institute of Physics (AIP), on allegations that he wrote the book on his employer's time.[2] The book starts: "This book was stolen. Written in part on stolen time, that is." Schmidt contended, however, that he was fired for "protesting discriminatory hiring practices" at AIP, and that the "stolen time" quotation was an exaggerated allusion tocounterculture iconAbbie Hoffman, who wroteSteal This Book. He added that "writing this radical book during break time in the office felt like stealing time because the ideas that I was expressing seemed so out of place with the corporate-typeatmosphere of the office."[3] Schmidt's firing led to a public campaign, with 750 physicists and academics, includingNoam Chomsky, signing a letter supporting Schmidt.[3][4]
The public campaign in turn led to a legal case, carried byWashington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, a law firm specializing incivil liberties, that produced an undisclosed financialsettlement for Schmidt, including anti-discrimination policy changes at AIP.[5] even though AIP did not admit any wrongdoing, it admitted that Schmidt "consistently received positivejob reviews" and rehired Schmidt, who immediatelyresigned.[3]
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