A Nobel Prize-Winning Evening

Nobel laureates on hand at Hamden Hall Country Day School discussed science literacy in America’s classrooms as well as the ethics related to scientific discovery.

The panel discussion, titled American Science in the 21st Century, featured Dr. Sidney Altman, Dr. Martin Chalfie, and Dr. Thomas A. Steitz, all of whom have won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Hamden Hall alumnus Alexandru Buhimschi, salutatorian of Hamden Hall’s Class of 2013 and recent Yale University graduate, moderated the event and shared a little of his own experience as a student with a passion for science.

“American students in high school and college are exposed to countless disciplines with the goal of identifying a specialty naturally and free from pressure,” said Buhimschi. “Appreciation that life’s answers do not arise from a single discipline is one of the greatest gifts that American education has provided me.”

Dr. Chalfie, who resides in NYC and is the former Chair of the Department of Biological Sciences at Columbia University, noted that “with science, we are always in the Golden Age.”

“We have spectacular students coming through the pipeline and that makes me optimistic,” he said.

Having won the Nobel Prize in 2008 for his introduction of Green Fluorescent Protein as a biological marker, Dr. Chalfie maintained that many of his experiments had initially failed – thus leaving him to question his field of pursuit. He added that eventually, his lab work paid off and he found that he could get “something right.”

Dr. Altman, who resides in Hamden, advised students to not think about prizes or recognition for their work.

“If your work is good, your colleagues will notice,” said Altman, who is the Sterling Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology and Professor of Chemistry at Yale University. He won the Nobel Prize in 1989 for his discovery of catalytic properties of RNA.

In a discussion regarding the ethics involved with science, Dr. Steitz explained that most scientists want to solve problems. He added that as a scientist, you don’t generally “think of the bad things” that could evolve from lab work and discovery.

Dr. Chalfie maintained that ethical conflicts are usually not scientific issues, but societal issues.

“We should do the basic research to understand. It’s the application that you have to be careful of,” he said.

Dr. Steitz, who is the Sterling Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry and Professor of Chemistry at Yale University and won the Nobel Prize in 2009 for his work describing the structure and function of the ribosome, said his lifetime pursuit was understanding the central dogma of molecular biology.

“My wow moment was seeing a large molecule during a talk at Harvard,” he said. “Do the most exciting thing you can think of. You never know where your pathway is going to take you.”

The panel discussion was part of the Hamden Hall’s Beckerman Lecture Series, which promotes engaging conversations about topics and themes that have shaped our world and continue to impact our place in the global community. The series is sponsored by the Beckerman Family Foundation and was established at Hamden Hall in 2013.

Hamden Hall science teacher Dr. Frank Gasparro, who serves as the director of Hamden Hall’s esteemed Science, Innovation & Design Program, coordinated the event. He recently marked a 50-year milestone in the American Chemical Society and will assume chairmanship of the New Haven section of the organization in January.

“I organized this event because I wanted our students to have a unique experience, so I am really pleased to see so many of them here tonight,” said Dr. Gasparro in his opening remarks.

Dr. Gasparro noted that over a 50-year span, he has met six Nobel Prize winners. Moreover, he said, now his students “can have the thrill of meeting three in one day!”