Iowa State University has denied tenure to Guillermo Gonzalez, an astronomer who has publicly supported intelligent design. One of his colleagues told the Des Moines Register that he thought the decision was based partly on Gonzalez's statements on the subject.

When the school announced the decision last spring, officials said it was based on his publication record. But the Des Moines Register reported Saturday that they had obtained e-mails from the school in which several faculty members discussed Gonzalez's involvement in ID prior to the decision.

Gonzalez wrote a letter to The Scientist in 2004 in which he defended his position on intelligent design. In his book, The Privileged Planet he argues that the laws of physics appear to be "finely tuned" for the existence of life. In a 2005 statement, 120 Iowa State faculty members denounced intelligent design, partially in response to Gonzalez's book, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

In response to the Register's questions, school officials said they had talked about the astronomer's involvement in the intelligent design movement during the review process, but said that the discussion was secondary to the evaluation of Gonzalez's science.