Eugenics group gave grant money to university

Psychology professor used some of the funds

The University of Arizona has accepted years of funding from a foundation infamous for promoting research linking race and intelligence, even after other universities and organizations stopped receiving support from the group, records show.

A psychology professor at the university used some of the Pioneer Fund’s grant money to pay for recent travel to a conference in London that has included eugenics-themed presentations, according to documents The Associated Press obtained through a public records request.

The Pioneer Fund was created by textile heir Wickliffe Draper in 1937 to, in the words of its original charter, advocate for “race betterment.” The organization has promoted eugenics and financially supported “race scientists” who maintain that blacks are intellectually and genetically inferior to whites.

The University of Arizona received a total of $458,000 from the Pioneer Fund from 2003 to 2016. Specifically, the funds were applied for and received by Professor Aurelio Jose Figueredo, who directs a graduate program for the study of human behavior and evolutionary psychology.

Figueredo said the Pioneer Fund’s history wasn’t a factor in his decision to apply for its funding. He has disavowed eugenics in one of his papers and says he doesn’t believe in the concept of racial inferiority.

Andrew Winston, a psychology professor who teaches a class on scientific racism, said he believes it’s morally unacceptable for the University of Arizona to accept the foundation’s money. Georgia State University law professor Paul Lombardo, author of a 2002 paper titled “‘The American Breed’: Nazi Eugenics and the Origins of the Pioneer Fund,” said most of the scientists who have received support from the foundation are either retired or dead.

Figueredo said he hasn’t decided whether he will reapply for more Pioneer Fund money at the end of this year.