Arthur Butz
Encyclopedia
Arthur R. Butz is a Holocaust denier
and associate professor of electrical engineering
at Northwestern University
. He achieved tenure
in 1974 and currently teaches classes in control system theory and digital signal processing
.
and, in 1956, his Master of Science
degrees. In 1965 he received his Ph.D.
from the University of Minnesota
. His doctoral dissertation considered a problem in control engineering
.
's space-filling curve
. This algorithm advanced certain computer search techniques and has certain other applications. Professor Butz is the author of numerous other technical papers.
. This book asserted that the Holocaust did not occur
and had been deliberately fabricated to justify the creation of the state of Israel
. Some have argued that he was not fired because of academic freedom
granted to tenure
d professors.
ian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's statement that the Holocaust is a "myth." In a press release dated December 18, 2005, Butz wrote:
The press release was in response to a speech President Ahmadinejad gave, in which he quotes the following from Imam Khomeini, "This regime that is occupying Qods [Jerusalem] must be eliminated from the pages of history.".
Sixty of Butz's colleagues from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science faculty signed a censure describing Butz's Holocaust denial as "an affront to our humanity and our standards as scholars". The letter also called for Butz to "leave our Department and our University and stop trading on our reputation for academic excellence."
University President Henry S. Bienen issued a statement strongly rejecting Butz's positions and distancing the university from them:
Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial is the act of denying the genocide of Jews in World War II, usually referred to as the Holocaust. The key claims of Holocaust denial are: the German Nazi government had no official policy or intention of exterminating Jews, Nazi authorities did not use extermination camps and gas...
and associate professor of electrical engineering
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
at Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
. He achieved tenure
Tenure
Tenure commonly refers to life tenure in a job and specifically to a senior academic's contractual right not to have his or her position terminated without just cause.-19th century:...
in 1974 and currently teaches classes in control system theory and digital signal processing
Digital signal processing
Digital signal processing is concerned with the representation of discrete time signals by a sequence of numbers or symbols and the processing of these signals. Digital signal processing and analog signal processing are subfields of signal processing...
.
Education
Butz attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from which he received both his Bachelor of ScienceBachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
and, in 1956, his Master of Science
Master of Science
A Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences including the social sciences.-Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay:...
degrees. In 1965 he received his Ph.D.
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
from the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
. His doctoral dissertation considered a problem in control engineering
Control engineering
Control engineering or Control systems engineering is the engineering discipline that applies control theory to design systems with predictable behaviors...
.
Publications
Butz invented the algorithm which bears his name and was published in 1969. It provided a means for computing HilbertDavid Hilbert
David Hilbert was a German mathematician. He is recognized as one of the most influential and universal mathematicians of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Hilbert discovered and developed a broad range of fundamental ideas in many areas, including invariant theory and the axiomatization of...
's space-filling curve
Space-filling curve
In mathematical analysis, a space-filling curve is a curve whose range contains the entire 2-dimensional unit square...
. This algorithm advanced certain computer search techniques and has certain other applications. Professor Butz is the author of numerous other technical papers.
Book controversy
In 1976, Butz published The Hoax of the Twentieth Century: The Case Against the Presumed Extermination of European JewryThe Hoax of the Twentieth Century
The Hoax of the Twentieth Century: The Case Against the Presumed Extermination of European Jewry is a book by electrical engineering professor Arthur Butz. First published in 1976 by Historical Review Press, it denied that Nazi Germany tried to exterminate the Jews during the Holocaust, and was...
. This book asserted that the Holocaust did not occur
Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial is the act of denying the genocide of Jews in World War II, usually referred to as the Holocaust. The key claims of Holocaust denial are: the German Nazi government had no official policy or intention of exterminating Jews, Nazi authorities did not use extermination camps and gas...
and had been deliberately fabricated to justify the creation of the state of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. Some have argued that he was not fired because of academic freedom
Academic freedom
Academic freedom is the belief that the freedom of inquiry by students and faculty members is essential to the mission of the academy, and that scholars should have freedom to teach or communicate ideas or facts without being targeted for repression, job loss, or imprisonment.Academic freedom is a...
granted to tenure
Tenure
Tenure commonly refers to life tenure in a job and specifically to a senior academic's contractual right not to have his or her position terminated without just cause.-19th century:...
d professors.
Ahmadinejad statement
Most recently, Butz attracted attention when he issued a statement in which he agreed with IranIran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's statement that the Holocaust is a "myth." In a press release dated December 18, 2005, Butz wrote:
I congratulate him [Ahmadinejad] on becoming the first head of state to speak out clearly on these issues [the alleged fabrication of the Holocaust], and regret only that it was not a Western head of state. His political remarks receive no comment on my side. By 'political remarks' I mean those that deal with questions of what ought to happen now.
The press release was in response to a speech President Ahmadinejad gave, in which he quotes the following from Imam Khomeini, "This regime that is occupying Qods [Jerusalem] must be eliminated from the pages of history.".
Sixty of Butz's colleagues from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science faculty signed a censure describing Butz's Holocaust denial as "an affront to our humanity and our standards as scholars". The letter also called for Butz to "leave our Department and our University and stop trading on our reputation for academic excellence."
University President Henry S. Bienen issued a statement strongly rejecting Butz's positions and distancing the university from them:
See also
- Holocaust denialHolocaust denialHolocaust denial is the act of denying the genocide of Jews in World War II, usually referred to as the Holocaust. The key claims of Holocaust denial are: the German Nazi government had no official policy or intention of exterminating Jews, Nazi authorities did not use extermination camps and gas...
- Criticism of Holocaust denial
- Historical revisionismHistorical revisionismIn historiography, historical revisionism is the reinterpretation of orthodox views on evidence, motivations, and decision-making processes surrounding a historical event...
- Historical revisionism (negationism)Historical revisionism (negationism)Historical revisionism is either the legitimate scholastic re-examination of existing knowledge about a historical event, or the illegitimate distortion of the historical record such that certain events appear in a more or less favourable light. For the former, i.e. the academic pursuit, see...