Dartmouth College Professors Who Conducted Sex Studies Accused Of 'Misconduct'

Three Dartmouth College professors whose research included studies on sexual attractiveness and desire have been placed on paid leave as a criminal investigation into sexual misconduct takes place.

The Hanover, N.H., Ivy League school is the latest string of sexual misconduct allegations taking place in professional settings ranging from Hollywood to Washington D.C. The professors, Todd Heatherton, 56, Bill Kelley, 45, and Paul Whalen, 54, all work in Dartmouth’s psychological and brain sciences department. New Hampshire Public Radio reports they’ve been put on paid leave and their access to campus is currently restricted.

New Hampshire Attorney General Gordon J. MacDonald said his office is working with five law enforcement agencies as part of the joint criminal investigation into the alleged “serious misconduct” on campus, the college’s student paper, The Dartmouth, first reported. The professors are all male, tenured faculty members.

A 2012 research paper from Dr. Heatherton and Dr. Kelley studied how images of food and sex affect the brain. The study’s participants included 58 female college freshmen who underwent brain scans while viewing images related to sex and drinking alcohol before they then viewed images of animals and environmental scenes. A 2008 paper published by all three professors in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience analyzed men and women’s varying reactions to attractive facial features in the opposite sex.

Although details of the allegations have not yet been released, the investigation was prompted by flyers posted up across campus asking, “Where is Prof. Paul Whalen?” and “Where is Prof. Bill Kelley?” Students outside the school’s Collis Center for Student Involvement Tuesday told the Times they were “pretty uncomfortable” the administration had known about the allegations and had failed to address the student body about the matter.

Dartmouth alumnus, Elizabeth Southwell, 24, told the New York Times she was “very, very shocked” about the allegations and that she had taken courses with all three of the accused professors. She said the professors “had some of the best reputations as teachers” during her time at Dartmouth.

The Dartmouth student newspaper’s emails to Heatherton were returned with an automatic reply he is “on sabbatical and not monitoring this email account until September 2018.”

Dartmouth President Philip J. Hanlon said the university is fully cooperating with the criminal investigation.

“I want to say in the most emphatic way possible that sexual misconduct and harassment are unacceptable and have no place at Dartmouth,” Mr. Hanlon said. “Such acts harm us as individuals and as members of the community.”