Oxford scientist resigns over Elon Musk's controversial fellowship

In November 2024, Dorothy Bishop, a prominent scientist at the University of Oxford, resigned from the Royal Society, the UK's national academy of sciences. Her resignation stemmed from concerns regarding Elon Musk's continued fellowship, which she described as a contradiction of the values upheld by the organization. Bishop had previously voiced her concerns to the Society's leadership, emphasizing that the processes around the resignation of fellows seemed inadequate. This followed a series of Musk's controversial comments on social media, which many fellows felt were incompatible with the Royal Society's code of conduct. Although the Society determined that Musk did not breach the code, Bishop found the situation untenable, and she believed Musk's behavior posed a threat to scientific discourse. Her resignation has drawn attention to the broader issues of accountability and conduct within the fellowship.