A few words of appreciation to Elkan R. Blout: A good friend and a distinguished scientist
✍ Scribed by Ephraim Katchalski-Katzir
- Publisher
- Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
- Year
- 1985
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 316 KB
- Volume
- 24
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0006-3525
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
It is a real pleasure for me to participate in this Symposium in honor of Professor Elkan Blout-a distinguished scientist and an inspiring teacher-on the occasion of his 65th birthday.
On the way here, I found myself reminiscing about my first visit to Harvard Medical School in 1951. I well remember the thrill I felt on first entering the portals of the great building where I was to meet Professors Edwin Cohn and John Edsall, who had invited me to work with them for a year in the Department of Biological Chemistry. It took me some time, I remember, to become familiar with the Harvard scene and style. After some months, having acquired the courage to come up with my own proposals for research, I would talk them over with John Edsall, who unfailingly encouraged my efforts. Next I would call on John Oncley, who unfailingly discouraged them: he would assure me that my ideas could not work, or had already been tried without success. My next sounding-board was Edwin Cohn, who would enthusiastically collar me and deliver lengthy monologues on his own projects. It was during that exhilarating period of my life that I learned a good deal about proteins and became fascinated by the work being done on blood fractionation and the characterization of the components obtained. I was exposed for the first time in my life to a galaxy of outstanding research workers, and had the opportunity to meet and collaborate with some of the young scientists with whom I established lasting and enriching friendships.
Among these new friends was Elkan Blout, whom I met when he was working at The Children's Hospital Medical Center in Boston. After discussing a wide range of scientific, political and cultural subjects, it became obvious that we spoke the same language. We soon developed a close friendship, heightened by our common professional interests.
Since my first sojourn at Harvard, I have followed the fortunes of the Department of Biological Chemistry with great interest. Thus, in 1957, when I spent a year in the Department of Chemistry at Harvard, I was happy to renew contact with my colleagues. The Department of Biological Chemistry had continued to maintain an impressive output of excellent work. Elkan joined it in 1962 and was its Chairman between 1965 and 1969. You may thus imagine my pleasure, whenever I visit the Department nowadays, to find Elkan installed in the office of Head of the Department.