Commencement Speakers Emphasize Challenges

Sidebar: 1997's Roll Call of Honor As colleges and universities the world over honored their graduates in commencement ceremonies this spring, many also chose to celebrate the work of noted scientists by presenting them with honorary degrees. Among the researchers accepting such honors were a former surgeon general of the United States, the "father" of the birth control pill, and a victim of a Unabomber attack. Some distinguished scientists were further honored by being asked to speak at graduation ceremonies. In general, the messages of those who spoke were straightforward: They urged graduates to work on what they believe is important and on what they enjoy. Many encouraged their audience to accept new challenges. Nobel laureate Peter C. Doherty, who holds the Michael F. Tamer Chair in Biomedical Research at St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., told Tufts University medical school graduates to anticipate being "called on to defend the intellectual basis of what you do for a living . . . It is dangerous to ignore the challenge." Doherty, who shared the 1996 Nobel in physiology or medicine, notes that he worries about what he perceives to be a rising distrust of physicians. "You could call on the medical profession to defend medicine, just as scientific research needs to be defended [as important to the U.S.'s economic and intellectual future]," he tells The Scientist. An increasing concern, he adds, is that dissatisfied patients may access the Internet, where they can get both accurate and inaccurate information. For Doherty, commencement was a family affair. While he was receiving an honorary doctorate from Tufts University in Boston, his son was receiving his medical degree there. Doherty, who is a veterinarian, addressed graduating medical students as well as veterinary medicine students at Tufts. He subsequently spoke at the University of Tennessee's graduation, though he didn't receive an honorary degree from the institution. Another Nobelist, Joseph H. Taylor, Jr., James S. McDonnell Distinguished Professor of Physics at Princeton University, also urged his audience not to shy away from challenges. Taylor was honored by Haverford College in Haverford, Pa. He told graduates to "not be afraid to change your mind," and "whenever you have a choice, work on problems that are important even though they may be very difficult." He added: "The world of science and the world in general are full of problems that are just too difficult to solve. Better to direct your efforts to areas where you can make a difference." Several other Nobelists received honorary degrees this spring. For example, the University of Notre Dame feted Leon M. Lederman, a 1988 laureate in physics who is director, emeritus, of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Ill., and Pritzker Professor of Science at the Illinois NOBEL EVENT: Mount Sinai’s Rosalyn Yalow, feted by Monmouth University, was one of many laureates receiving honorary degrees. Institute of Technology in Chicago. Rosalyn S. Yalow, a 1977 Nobelist in physiology or medicine who is Solomon A. Berson Distinguished Professor at large at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, City University of New York, and emerita distinguished professor at large at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University of New York, was honored by Monmouth University in West Long Branch, N.J. J. Michael Bishop, University Professor at the University of California, San Francisco, and a corecipient of the 1989 Nobel in physiology or medicine, was given an honorary degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine. Rudolph A. Marcus, Arthur A. Noyes Professor of Chemistry at California Institute of Technology, who shared the 1992 Nobel Prize in chemistry, was similarly honored by the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Many of the honorary degree recipients spoke of the vast frontiers of undiscovered knowledge still ahead. Arnold J. Levine, Harry C. Weiss Professor and chairman of molecular biology at Princeton University, reminded graduates of his undergraduate alma mater-Binghamton University, part of the State University of New York-of the numerous opportunities open to them. He told his audience that "it will be up to you to make a better, more interesting and more generous world where we can all live together in a meaningful equality." LIMITLESS: Princeton’s Arnold Levine told SUNY-Binghamton graduates that dramatic advances in the life sciences lie ahead in the 21st century. This century has seen two scientific revolutions, Levine said. While the first half was marked by tremendous advances in physics, astronomy, and the physical sciences, the latter half belongs to the life sciences. "[James] Watson and [Francis] Crick's discovery of DNA set off a scientific revolution that will continue far into the 21st century." At Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, National Aeronautics and Space Administration administrator Daniel S. Goldin gave simple advice to graduates: "Don't do what's expected." He encouraged his listeners to set a plan and take risks to accomplish their dreams. In his own life, he said, he knew that he "was going to help America open the space frontier, and nobody would stop me." He went on to tell graduates that "it's a treadmill from high school to college, from college to job, from job to promotions, and you never get off that treadmill unless you set a dream, set a philosophy of life, and establish that failure is going to be part of your life." Without failure, he said, there cannot be success. "Don't build monsters out of fear of failure. Believe in yourself. You're in total charge. Every person has the potential to [make an] impact." Money, he noted, should not be an all-encompassing goal. KEEP 'EM GUESSING: "Don’t do what’s expected," urged NASA’s Daniel Goldin, speaking to Case Western Reserve graduates. Stanford University chemistry professor Carl Djerassi, who synthesized norethindrone, the first progestational oral contraceptive, in the 1950s, spoke to graduates of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, about an intellectual frontier. He decried an age of overspecialization. A danger in the educational process is for a student to focus to narrowly in both undergraduate and graduate study, he lamented, contending that this invariably leads to "intellectual monogamy." Instead, Djerassi, who is also a fiction author (his latest book, Menachem's Seed, is due out this fall from the University of Georgia Press), urged audience members to continue to expand their minds by reading, and not to "denigrate intellectual promiscuity." He encouraged graduates to pursue what he termed "intellectual polygamy." David M. Lee, a professor of physics at Cornell University who shared the 1996 Nobel Prize in physics, told graduates of the University of Connecticut-his alma mater-that it is "fashionable for the doomsayers to predict that we shall soon know everything we can know and need to know, and that the demise of science is imminent. I take issue with this view." Lee quoted author Mark Twain, who said, "'the reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.' The same can be said for science." The doctor-patient relationship was a popular theme among some commencement speakers. Some challenged medical school graduates to reverse the trend of depersonalized medical care, which they contended is a result of increasing reliance on managed care. At graduation ceremonies at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, Kenneth I. Shine, president of the Institute of Medicine and a clinical professor of medicine at Georgetown University, encouraged medical school graduates to make the phrase "partnership" an integral part of the health-care vocabulary, both in research and in practice. He told his audience that doctors and social workers, lawyers, and most important, patients should be involved in such a partnership. He suggested that the current U.S. health-care system will require well-informed patients and clinicians to work together. OLD HAND: Former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop challenged graduates to reform the disintegrating doctor-patient relationship. Former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, who is senior scholar of the C. Everett Koop Institute at Dartmouth College, also addressed managed-care issues. He urged the graduates of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., to revitalize "physician professionalism," which he claims has eroded with the advent of managed care. As a result, he contends, the physician-patient relationship has deteriorated as well. Koop tells The Scientist that in some years he is asked to give as many as six commencement addresses, an opportunity he does not take lightly. He likes to tailor each talk individually, but doesn't "want to sugar-coat anything." Koop notes that "the issue [of eroding professionalism] is an important one, and it is a trend that can be reversed." DISTURBING TRENDS: At Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, UC-San Francisco’s Charles Epstein expressed concern about the public perception of science. Charles J. Epstein, a professor of pediatrics, director of the genetics clinic, and chief of the division of medical genetics at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, used graduation ceremonies at Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, Rootstown, to discuss the public perception of science. Epstein, who received an honorary degree from the medical college, expressed concern about both public admiration and fear of science and medicine. Epstein is familiar with the topic; he was a victim of a Unabomber attack on June 23, 1993, when a package bomb, mailed to his home, exploded as he opened it. The Unabomber's anti-technology manifesto, published September 1995 in the Washington Post, denounced science as the downfall of humanity (T.W. Durso, The Scientist, June 10, 1996, page 3). Epstein cited public concerns about the recent cloning of the sheep named Dolly and potential abuses for human cloning. The experiment was held in awe by some, while others saw the specter of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and genetically engineered humans. Epstein noted that while doctors can help patients more than ever, patients' expectations are higher. Patients are "wary and suspicious, and frequently dissatisfied. They don't believe everything we say. . . . We haven't fulfilled all of our promises." The solution, he suggested, was to "avoid stirring up unfounded and irrational public fears," and to "explain in a positive rather than defensive manner what you are doing and why." TRICKY BALANCE: For those considering marrying another physician, UC-San Francisco’s Lois Epstein recommended "communication, compromise, and flexibility." Epstein's wife, Lois B. Epstein, a professor, emerita, of pediatrics at the UC-San Francisco School of Medicine, and a noted cancer and immunology researcher, also received an honorary degree from Northeastern Ohio. In her address, she took a personal approach, as well. She recalled her trials and triumphs as a physician-researcher and mother, noting that she particularly enjoyed mentoring. For those considering marrying another physician, she recommended "communication, compromise, and flexibility." REACH OUT: Morehouse's Louis Sullivan urged graduates of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science to "work beyond the four walls of the hospital, clinic, or the office." At the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science, former secretary of Health and Human Services Louis W. Sullivan emphasized community involvement. Sullivan, president of Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, urged graduates to "work beyond the four walls of the hospital, clinic, or the office." He suggested that graduates "interact more closely with our patients where they live, especially in medically underserved areas." Not all of the honorary degree recipients had undergraduate degrees. William Fastie, 80, an internationally known instrument designer at Johns Hopkins University, built a now-famous spectrograph used in space research. He never earned a college degree. Fastie, who retired last year and is now a research professor, emeritus, notes that "I don't do science anymore-it's too complicated." For Fastie, who already received an honorary degree from the University of Colorado several years ago, "getting a degree from Johns Hopkins is like ice cream with chocolate sauce on it." France A. Cordova, vice chancellor for research and a professor of physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, is equally philosophical. Cordova, a one-time English major who subsequently became a NASA chief scientist, received an honorary doctorate from Loyola-Marymount University in Los Angeles. She tells The Scientist, "My main message [to the audience was] that you can't predict where you'll wind up. Universities train you to adapt; life will continue to be a series of commencements and new beginnings." Following is a partial listing of scientists given honorary degrees at North American colleges and universities this spring: Bates College, Lewiston, Maine: Jane Lubchenco, Wayne and Gladys Valley Professor of Zoology, Oregon State University, Cornwallis Binghamton University, State University of New York: Arnold J. Levine, Harry C. Weiss Professor and chairman, department of molecular biology, Princeton University Brown University: Leo Esaki, president, University of Tsukuba, Japan; recipient of 1973 Nobel Prize in physics Augustus A. White, III, professor of orthopedic surgery, Harvard Medical School and Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology California Institute of Technology: David D. Ho, scientific director, Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, New York; professor, Rockefeller University Case Western Reserve University: Paul Berg, Cahill Professor in Cancer Research, Stanford University; recipient of 1980 Nobel Prize in chemistry Daniel S. Goldin, administrator, National Aeronautics and Space Administration June E. Osborn, president, Josiah Macy, Jr., Foundation, New York Centenary College of Louisiana, Shreveport: Daniel S. Goldin, administrator, NASA Columbia University: Sidney Brenner, Honorary Professor of Genetic Medicine, University of Cambridge Clinical School Duke University: John H. Gibbons, director, Office of Science and Technology Policy Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology: David D. Ho, scientific director, Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, New York; professor, Rockefeller University Harvard University: Edward P. Abraham, professor, emeritus, of chemical pathology, Oxford University Jerome S. Bruner, research professor of psychology, senior research fellow in law, New York University William H. Foege, Distinguished Professor, International Health Department, Emory University William J. Morgan, professor of geophysics and Knox Taylor Chair of Geography, Princeton University Haverford College, Haverford, Pa.: Joseph H. Taylor, Jr., James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Physics, Princeton University Plasma Physics Laboratory; recipient of 1993 Nobel Prize in physics Hunter College, City University of New York: Dorothea Zucker-Franklin, professor of medicine, New York University Medical Center Johns Hopkins University: William Fastie, research professor, emeritus, Johns Hopkins University Loyola-Marymount University, Los Angeles: France A. Cordova, vice chancellor, research, professor of physics, University of California, Santa Barbara McGill University: Alvan Feinstein, Sterling Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology, Yale University Jack Halpern, Louis Block Distinguished Service Professor of Chemistry, University of Chicago Rene Simard, rector, University of Montreal; former president, Medical Research Council of Canada Monmouth University, West Long Branch, N.J.: Rosalyn S. Yalow, Solomon A. Berson Distinguished Professor at large, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, City University of New York; emerita distinguished professor at large, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University; recipient of 1977 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine New York University: Paolo Blasi, physicist, rector, University of Florence Northeastern Ohio Universities, Rootstown: Charles J. Epstein, professor of pediatrics; director, genetics clinic; and chief, division of medical genetics, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine Lois B. Epstein, professor, emerita, of pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science: Leslie Z. Benet, professor and chairman, department of biopharmaceutical sciences, University of California, San Francisco Robert N. Butler, founding director, National Institute on Aging; director, International Longevity Center, New York Louis W. Sullivan, President, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta; former secretary of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Princeton University: Bruce M. Alberts, president, National Academy of Sciences Queens College, Flushing, N.Y.: Charles H. Hennekens, Eugene Brunwald Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School Rockefeller University: Christian de Duve, Andrew W. Mellon Professor, Emeritus, Rockefeller University; professor emeritus, biochemistry, University of Louvain, Belgium; founder, president, International Institute of Cellular and Molecular Pathology, Brussels Thomas Jefferson University/Jefferson Medical College: Floyd E. Bloom, chairman, department of neuropharmacology, Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, Calif.; editor-in-chief, Science Tufts University Medical School: Peter C. Doherty, Michael F. Tamer Chair in Biomedical Research, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tenn.; recipient of 1996 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Md.: C. Everett Koop, former U.S. Surgeon General; senior scholar, C. Everett Koop Institute, Dartmouth College University of Arizona: Harry B. Gray, Arnold O. Beckman Professor of Chemistry and director, Beckman Institute, California Institute of Technology University of Chicago: Carl Weiman, professor of physics, fellow, Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics, University of Colorado, Boulder University of Connecticut, Storrs: David M. Lee, professor of physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.; recipient of 1996 Nobel Prize in physics University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign: Rudolph A. Marcus, Arthur A. Noyes Professor of Chemistry, California Institute of Technology; recipient of 1992 Nobel Prize in chemistry Robert L. Metcalf, professor, emeritus, of entomology, University of Illinois University of Maryland, Baltimore: Kenneth I. Shine, president, Institute of Medicine, clinical professor of medicine, Georgetown University School of Medicine Harold C. Slavkin, director, National Institute of Dental Research University of Maryland, Baltimore County: Carl Djerassi, professor of chemistry, Stanford University Donna E. Shalala, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services University of Michigan: Sergei Godunov, professor and chairman, Department of Partial Differential Equations, Sobolev Institute of Mathematics, Novosibirsk, Russia University of Notre Dame: Leon M. Lederman, director, emeritus, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, Ill., Pritzker Professor of Science, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago; recipient of 1988 Nobel Prize in Physics University of Pennsylvania: William H. Danforth, chairman, Board of Trustees, former chancellor, Washington University, St. Louis Louis Sokoloff, chief, Laboratory of Cerebral Metabolism, National Institute of Mental Health Ahmed H. Zewail, Linus Pauling Professor of Chemistry, California Institute of Technology University of Pittsburgh: D. Allan Bromley, dean of engineering and Sterling Professor of the Sciences, Yale University.; former director, Office of Science and Technology Policy University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, Wash.: Freeman Dyson, professor, emeritus, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, N.J. University of Rochester College of Medicine: J. Michael Bishop, University Professor, University of California, San Francisco; recipient of 1989 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine Washington University, St. Louis: William H. Daughaday, professor, emeritus, of medicine, Washington University, St. Louis; clinical professor of medicine, University of California, Irvine Yale University: Alfred G. Gilman, professor and chairman of pharmacology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center; recipient of 1994 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine Mario J. Molina, Lee and Geraldine Martin Professor of Environmental Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; recipient of 1995 Nobel Prize in chemistry York College, City University of New York: Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Frederick P. Rose Director, Hayden Planetarium and visiting research scientist, Princeton University

Commencement Speakers Emphasize Challenges

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