Nobel Laureate Olah Gives a Message Worth Hearing

By Vuk Uskokovic
Contributing Writer

George Olah, the 1994 Nobel Prize winner in chemistry, held a lecture at UCSF on April 15. The lecture was organized by the Postdoctoral Scholars Association and sadly, like many other lectures in this series of talks, attracted merely a few dozens of postdocs (remember, there are 1,400 postdocs at UCSF).

Needless to say, it was invaluable to listen to a celebrated gentleman in his 80s summing up his lifelong experiences to a handful of curious young heads watching him with amazement. George told us at one point how he accepts invitations for talks from students only. In his words, he does not care about luxuriant receptions he is regularly invited to.

He told us numerous amusing stories from his career, such as how after 35 years of continual funding, the NIH had deprived him thereof in 1994, and then withdrew the decision six weeks later. What came in-between was nothing else but the announcement of the Nobel Prize.

He humbly insisted on how he knows merely bits and pieces about chemistry and how the majority of his ideas failed in reality. He claimed how it is the sense of wonder and a genuine curiosity that are essential for successful scientific endeavors. He also stressed how young scientists with ideas should be funded by all means, whereas it is the results they bring forth afterwards that should be carefully evaluated before enabling more funding.

More than anything, however, tiny details were those that impressed me most with this great personality. For example, George refused to have our association pay for his trip and accommodation. As the talk was over, he entered a cab and left us waving in front of the Children’s Hospital. Doing so, he hopped into the front seat of the cab. An act worth millions of words. Like a real hero, after the mission is done, sailing off alone into the sunset.
 
Vuk Uskokovic is the Practice of Science Chair of the UCSF Postdoctoral Scholars Association