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© THE ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY

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Z 1230 YORK AVENUE NEW YORK, NY 10021

of Rockefeller

. University
S* June 27, 1979

JOSHUA LEDERBERG

PRESIDENT

Dr. Jewel Plummer Cobb

Dean

Douglass College

New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903

Dear Dr. Cobb:

I was delighted to get your letter of June 15th
asking whether I would comment on the qualifications
of Dr. Evelyn Witkin for an endowed chair. This is
a very happy task; for Dr. Witkin is undoubtedly
superbly qualified and my comment about her is in-
formed by an association that has spanned more than
35 years.

As a graduate student at Columbia I knew her as
one of the brave pioneers who made an early commitment
to the development of bacteria as objects of genetic
research. Her dedication to this proceeded my own and
was a substantial inspiration to my personal introduc-
tion to that branch of research.

She has devoted her entire career to the relentless
pursuit of a single all important topic: the mechanism
of damage to biological systems by radiation and the
mechanisms by which this is repaired through the meta-
bolic activity of the injured cells.

Applied to bacteria this may seem to be an arcane
subject; but as the years have rolled by it has become
one of intense public interest and policy importance,
as it touches the national commitment to the use of
nuclear energy both for power and for national security
purposes.

The very concept of repair from radiation damage
and of the possibility of cellular mechanisms of resist-
ance thereto was very murky indeed until Dr. Witkin en-

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pr
Dr. Jewel Plummer Cobb
June 27, 1979

-2-

tered the field. Her work since 1946 has comprised an
unremitting flow of contributions of meticulous techni-
cal merit, imagination and foresight. Her identifica-
tion of detailed mechanisms of mutagenesis at a level

of physiological and genetic analysis have opened the
door to a much deeper understanding of mechanisms of
mutation, and of the biochemistry of DNA repair, there-
by engaging the specialized attention of a host of other
investigators.

Her curriculum vitae already documents the very sub-
stantial appreciation which is sustained by her peers
and colleagues in the field. A glance at the enclosed
citation index to her name for a single year adds further
qualitative and quantitative corroboration to my own
unmeasured esteem. Quite apart from her research accom-
plishments, your institution is indeed fortunate to have
a person of Dr. Witkin's academic dedication and human
personal understanding on its faculty. As I said before,
you could hardly have made a more singularly appropriate
suggestion for the distinction you are contemplating.

Yours sincer

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Joshua Lederberg

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