ScHOOL OF MEDICINE
STANFORD UNIVERSITY. STANFORD, CALIFORNIA 043505

May 4, 1978

JOSHUA LEDERBERG

JOSEPH D. GRANT PROFESSOR

4

OF GENETICS

Dr. John Bowers
Macy Foundation
1 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10021

Dear John:

I think you will have to accept some responsibility (credit?)
for the situation I will be finding myself in starting this fall,
since you were responsible for my first dive into the pool of
administrative responsibility 23 years ago. I have been making
a few frenetic visits back and forth to New York, a process that
will continue until September when my family and I settle in. I
am looking forward to what I trust will really be a somewhat
quieter time in which to reach out for the renewal of old acquain-
tences and to integrate ourselves in a new environment.

In fact, it is obvious that the one thing that can make
New York City an attractive alternative to suburban life in
California is the enormous wealth of intellectual and institutional
resources so conveniently to hand. For a ‘place like The Rockefeller
University, with its specialized mission and potential impetus for
parochial introversion, this is especially important. I am sure
you need no introduction to the University as a center of biomedical
research and I will be looking for informed advice on how to achieve
still higher standards of integration of its more basic with
clinically applied intramural effort, and how to facilitate bringing
that work to the service of human needs outside.

One particular strikes me as deserving urgent attention:
Totally lacking in representation from the social sciences, by which
I know mean economics, political science, decision theory, the
University is not as well able to contribute to important health
policy debates as its great strength in the biomedical sciences
might otherwise aver. I am not at all sure what institutional
arrangements would be best to fill out a policy analytic perspective
that is equally important for the University and for the nation
put I believe that this is an aim that very badly needs attention.
Other places would be better suited to focus on the health services
side of such policy problems; I had in mind rather the general areas
of environmental health and preventive measures and a global outreach.
Bowers
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5-4-78

I am sure that you have given a good deal of attention yourself to most
of these questions and I am looking forward to some chance to discuss
them with you in much greater detail.

Meanwhile, I will not apologize for my secretary's gaffe which
I trust was only a minor inconvenience in dropping some reports in
your secretary's lap: In fact I would not have minded at all if some
copies had been abstracted for your own attention. One of these days
I will bring around a set in person.

With best wishes,

Yours sincerely,

Joshua Lederberg,
Professor of Genetics

P.S. John, if it were convenient for you to send me two copies of
the publication mentioned in the attachment I would appreciate
it.