Don ’t Be Afraid to Search in the Dark: Jon Lorsch Encourages Graduates to Consider New Perspectives

Jon Lorsch, from Swarthmore College’s class of 1990, returned to his alma mater in May to accept an honorary Doctor of Sciences degree for his accomplishments as a biochemist and his visionary leadership of NIGMS. During the university’s 147th commencement, he spoke to the 2019 graduating class, offering advice and examples of how we can look for opportunities in the least likely places. Watch the 5-minute video to hear Lorsch’s advice to the graduates—and all future scientists—to venture into the unknown in search of the next big advance in biomedical research. Transcript of Lorsch’s Speech: In his famous “This Is Water” speech at Kenyon College, David Foster Wallace noted that “the deployment of didactic little parable-ish stories” has become “a requirement of U.S. commencement speeches.” So, apologies if you’ve already heard this one.A man is walking down the street at night. He sees another man on his hands and knees under a streetlight, apparently looking for something. The first man asks the second what he’s looking for and the second man replies, “My car keys.” So the first man offers to help, and together they crawl around on the ground under the streetlight searching for the lost keys. After a long time, the first man says to the second, “I’m pretty sure they aren’t here. Are you sure this is where you lost them?” The second man says, “No, but this is the only place there’s enough light to look for ...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Being a Scientist Scientific Process Source Type: blogs