#2894: Howard Gillman

Howard Aaron Gillman is an American scholar of political science and currently serving as the 6th chancellor of the University of California, Irvine since September 2014. Whatever else he might have done, in virtue of his position as chancellor, Gillman is formally responsible for the dismantling of reality- and science-based medicine at UC Irvine in favor of pseudoscience and quackery. His and Irvine’s motivation for the move from science to quackery was, of course, that quackery is where the money is – in particular, Irvine and Gillman couldn’t help but accept a $200 million from Susan and Henry Samueli to establish the Susan and Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences, which would  “incorporate the university’s medical school” and the Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute (SSIHI), and which was marketed as “the first university-based health sciences enterprise to incorporate integrative health research, teaching and patient care across its schools and programs”. “This gift catalyzes UCI’s belief that human health and well-being requires a science-based approach that engages all disciplines in caring for the whole person and total community,” said Gillman: “Susan and Henry Samueli’s dedication, their vision for what is possible and their deep generosity will help UCI set a standard that, over time, other medical centers in the U.S. can follow.”

 

Note that Gillman emphasised ‘a science-based approach’. It is important to say that, of course, for looking at what the SSIHI actually offers, you’ll find precisely what you expect: acupunture, traditional Chinese medicine, naturopathy, functional medicine, IV infusion therapy, and – yes – homeopathy. 

 

Diagnosis: We suppose Howard Gillman believes his MAHA-adjacent actions are ultimately good for medicine and that what UC Irvine recommends and teaches its students to recommend is, in fact, science-based – large sums of money can get people to believe anything. And although Gillman is probably not personally anti-science, the fact is that he is among the major enables of quackery and pseudoscience in the US today.