It was always assumed that I would go to college.

I participated on debating teams and in student government, and served as senior class president.

If our society continues to support basic research on how living organisms function, it is likely that my great grandchildren will be spared the agony of losing family members to most types of cancer.

More by example than by word, my father taught me logical reasoning, compassion, love of others, honesty, and discipline applied with understanding.

The experience reminds me of a favorite saying: Most of the yield from research efforts comes from the coal that is mined while looking for diamonds.

I have a tendency to be lucky and make the right choices based on limited information.

Family trips to Yellowstone and to what are now national parks in Southern Utah, driving the primitive roads and cars of that day, were real adventures.