Chapter 40 : Mentoring the New Generation of Scientists

Abstract:

Among the many outstanding teachers, the author acknowledges the extraordinary efforts of Sterling Wallace, an uppergrade school teacher, and Mr. Sanders and Ms. Hope, my high school chemistry and physics and algebra-geometry teachers, respectively. With little to no financial resources, the author initially attended Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) as a five-year "work-study" student and subsequently transferred to Miles College, a small historically black college in Birmingham. This multiyear experience, along with excellent professors in organic chemistry, biochemistry, genetics, classical structural studies, and histology, afforded the author a productive and enjoyable undergraduate tenure. The author had the distinct pleasure to join the laboratory of Fred Neidhardt as a graduate student, and his research focused on the regulation of amino acid and aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase synthesis in Escherichia coli. This was a rare opportunity to learn microbial genetics, biochemistry, and physiology under the supervision of an intellectually demanding, professionally sophisticated, and seasoned mentor. In the spring of 1969, the author joined the faculty of Atlanta University. In a very short period of time, he was soon mentoring a very large pool of graduate students. The most important of the activities in which we engaged was the creation of an intellectual ambiance that was nurturing to the students who came with different preparations, different interests, and different perceptions of their self-worth—they were placed in an environment that simply disallowed those differentials.