SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
STANFORD UNIVERSITY, STANFORD, CALIFORNIA 04305

June 12, 1978
JOSHUA LEDERBERG

JosepH D. GRANT PROFESSOR
OF GENETICS

Dr. Sara Ann Gerling

Dept. of Psycnobiology
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, CA 92717

Dear Sara:

Thank you for your narrative letter of May 30, which is exactly
what I asked of you. You give a very good account of yourself, as
you also do in personal interviews, and I certainly hope that your
career plans work out as you now formulate them. I am also convinced
that Harvard is not the place for what you plan to do.

Your letter struck just the right balance between realistic
self examination and self flagellation. Certainly your intention to
pull back from being so diffuse is very well considered. One has to
be a bit optimistic that going into still another field will enable
you to set aside your former interests and simplify your life.

I think a lot of people would quarrel with you fairly strenuously,
and I would more gently, about the human "irrelevance" of your animal
studies. I would have exactly the opposite .expectation about their
final impact but that is a decision you have to make for yourself.

If you meant that you would like your day to day work to bring you
into more direct contact with people and with human situations that
would be a less controversial and readily understandable motive.

In fact, I had an impression rather like that from our conversation.

Again I was very pleased to get your letter and I make these
remarks mainly with the aim of giving you some pointers that may be
helpful to you in how you present yourself in personal interviews.

If there is anybody else besides Pat Jacobs you would like me to
write to, please just let me know.

Good luck.

Yours sincerely,

JL/ge}