An old interview with one of this year ’ s Nobel Chemists – Carolyn Bertozzi

This was an interview for my Personal Reactions column on the old ChemWeb site from 1999 featuring Carolyn Bertozzi, who this week was announced as one of three recipients of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Biography: Professor Carolyn Ruth Bertozzi, born 10th October 1966. Boston Massachusetts. Position: Associate Professor of Chemistry, University of California at Berkeley How did you get your current job? The usual way. I applied for faculty positions in 1995 in response to advertisements in C&E News What do you think clinched the deal? Good fortune and a strong publication record from my graduate and postdoctoral labs What do you enjoy about your work? Everything. I love the variety, the interesting and brilliant people, the challenge of figuring out data and the thrill of new discoveries. Best of all is seeing how young people get turned on to research and develop into top-notch independent scientists. This must be the best job in the world. What aspects would you change? In the perfect world, there would be a more entrenched system to accommodate the demands of both work and family, and perhaps a better representation of women on the faculty. These are not out of the realm of possibility in my lifetime. Also, higher salaries to match the cost of living would help ease the burdens of everyday life What was your first experiment? Ever? I don’t remember it has been so long. My first research position was in the summer of 1986 and I performed experiments with l...
Source: David Bradley Sciencebase - Songs, Snaps, Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Chemistry Source Type: blogs