July 26, 1993
Dear Mrs. Lasker,
I write with some thoughts stimulated by the recent meeting of the Lasker Award Jury.
Your gift of these awards to the biomedical scientific community has brought many very special benefits to the research effort. The program repeatedly emphasizes to the dedicated scientists that their efforts are truly appreciated. The program also emphasizes, repeatedly, to the general public, the importance of biomedical research to the general well-being, and to the vast improvements in the treatment of disease in our life-times. Over the years, the public, in the form of its elected representatives, has responded with truly strong support for biomedical research. Your personal efforts to this end of course ware a vital part of that success. At this time, your decades-long enthusiastic efforts are particularly important for
us to remember. Our nation has always been ambiguous about supporting science, for many reasons. Leaders like yourself kept the public decisions forward-looking. Currently, we desperately need more Mary Laskers, because science and its contribution are not well understood by the current federal Administration. The occasion of the Jury meeting and, in the fall, the announcement of the prizes to extraordinary scientists will again help to remind the nation of the great benefits that come from the national support of research. Our country needs such reminders and we are all enormously grateful for your providing them.
With respectful and kind regards,
Sincerely,
Maxine F. Singer
President