BYU NewsNet - Controversial Physics Professor on Paid Leave

BYU officials placed a controversial professor on paid leave Thursday, Sept. 7, 2006, in order to review his research and statements related to the collapse of the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001.

Steven E. Jones, a professor of physics and astronomy at BYU since 1985, has stirred controversy with his theory that explosives, not hijacked airliners, caused the collapse of the Twin Towers. Jones has written that research performed on fragments from the towers at BYU suggest the presence of thermite, a substance Jones wrote is used by the military in demolition exercises.

In an official statement, university spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said university officials are "concerned about the increasingly speculative and accusatory nature of these statements by Dr. Jones" and that the professor's work related to the World Trade Center collapse "has not been published in appropriate scientific venues."

Jones is currently a full professor who has been granted "continuing status" (BYU does not give professors tenure). Jones' work will be reviewed by university administration, the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences and the Physics Department while Jones is on paid leave, according to Jenkins and an article published in Deseret Morning News.

Jenkins said BYU rarely places professors on leave with pay. It is a step taken "when there is a question about a professor's performance in citizenship, scholarship or teaching," Jenkins said.

Jones could not be reached for comment.

Jones published his controversial views in The Journal of 9/11 Studies, a web-only journal of which Jones himself is a co-editor, under the title "Why Indeed did the WTC Buildings Completely Collapse?" The article was also posted on a religion- and politics-themed website, LatterDayConservative.com.

"None of the government-funded studies have provided serious analyses of the explosive demolition hypothesis at all," Jones wrote near the end of the article. "The case for accusing ill-trained Muslims of causing all the destruction on 9-11-01 is far from compelling. It just does not add up."

As a longtime physics professor, Jones is widely viewed as a leading academic voice for what some have termed the "9/11 truth movement." Jones has explained and defended his conclusions in interviews with Deseret Morning News, London's The Guardian and MSNBC's Tucker Carlson. The decision to place Jones on leave with pay came after the university was contacted by reporters from Deseret Morning News interested in preparing a special report on his research.

Aside from his interest in the Sept. 11 World Trade Center collapse, Jones has focused a part of his research on cold fusion; three published papers on the subject have been posted on Jones' research website. He has also studied Native American cave drawings and other ancient artifacts, according to his Web site.

In response to the news of the university's decision, the editors of the 9/11 Truth Movement Web site commented, "The good doctor Jones is finally called to task for speaking 9/11 truth in an archconservative clime." They continued that despite the negative effects on Jones and his family, the university's decision had "obvious and significant" benefits, including "increased issue visibility, the investigative involvement of real . . . scientists, and lots more free time for Dr. Jones to spread the gospel locally and globally."

Jones is not the first college professor to find himself in hot water after questioning the official account of the collapse of the World Trade Center towers. In July, 61 Wisconsin state legislators demanded the firing of University of Wisconsin professor Kevin Barrett after he joined Scholars for 9/11 Truth, a group of which Jones is a member. UW did not fire Barrett, citing academic freedom.