It is probably understandable (but perhaps not to Baby Boomers, members of Generation X, or Millennials) that as a product of the Great Depression of the 1930s, the period of World War II, and the post-war era of the 1940s, I went sequentially, directly, and without a break from elementary school to junior high to high school to college to graduate school and a postdoc, and have been affiliated with the same academic institution for more than 57 years. I am incredibly fortunate and extremely blessed to have had a good life, both professionally and personally. My career has been very successful with regard to teaching and research; I have had understanding colleagues, very good undergraduate and graduate students, enthusiastic postdocs and senior collaborators, and lasting friends around the world. My wonderful wife and I share the joys of our daughters, sons-in-law, and four remarkable grandchildren. My message to younger scientists is very simple: Serendipity favors the prepared mind, so prepare it broadly and expansively. And, in the words of a popular song of my childhood, “You’ve got to have a little mazel ‘cause mazel means good luck.”

It’s been a good life: A linear career in academia

2019 Spring National Meeting

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