May 16, 1957

Professor Jam. Jenkins
Department of Genetics
University of California
Berkeley 4, Galifornia

Dear Jim:
Thank you for yours of the 14th.

While I am naturally disappointed at the indirect approach that now
seens obligatory, it seems to us that your letter states a very satis-
factory foundation for agreement. [It is of course understood that, for
simplicity and coordination, I have been Esther's spokesman in this corres-
pondence. He my bepiibidly approaching the time when she should be consul-
ting directly with you on details. Fortunately, our trip vhrough San Fran~
cisco, now scheduled far August 3-6, will be a most timely occasion for
this. 1 am enclosing an itinerary for your information. ]

Esther is quite gratified at the proposal you will be recommending.
Tf adjustments have to be made for budgetary reasons, she prefers that they
prorated on the highest rank for which she would qualify, as you suggested.
She has been working quite full-time. She will want to learn from you first—
hand the answers to questions of privileges, such as attendance at meetings,
etc. which might have some bearing on the full-time status of non-faculty
professional persoigel.

My own principal concern, as her ‘attorney' is that the Adginistratic
Clearly approve this expedient as a means of our continued co aboration; and
that her tenure be governed by section 12.1 of the President's rules for
the classification. This implies that the specific question of her relztionship
to me shall not, in future, be invoked as a disqualification for her appoint-
ment, so long as this can be administered in another department as now pro-
posed. Everything you hive written me supports this understanding, but it
might be well if this were incorporated ultimately in a formal letter.

Esther's application form is enclosed. But the space for the question on
University-employed rekatives is left blank. As of this instant, the anawer
is no, since Seymour's employment begins this sumer. You will know best how
to make that antry.

I am beginning to becom a bit uneasy about the timing. It would be acutely
embarrassing to me if I have to make, and therefore announce, a formil commit-
ment to leave Wisconsin more than about six months before I could actually
move. Since it seems fairly plain that the reconstruction could not be com
pleted before about mid-October 1958, I had been using that as a point of
reference. Six months before that would be mid-April, as the most apt time
to make a formal commitment. If it were at all possible, I would be happy
to defer that juncture untill after the Symposium on Medical Genetics to be
held here April 8-10.

Furthermore, do you believe I should make a formal reply to any offer
before the plans have reached a stage that would give a concrete picture of
whether a suitable laboratory couid be financed?

Does this schedule strike you as a reasonable one? I realize that you
have your own complementary pressures. All in all it would have been far
simpler &f we could have arranged an immediate move. Since that was out of
our hands (on both sides) there is bound to be some delicacy in the program.

We will have a good chance to go over all this in detail this summer.
Have you any idea when the proposed appointment will have cleared the faculty
committees? Will there be an occasion by August to go over plans in more
detail, or will this have to wait for a later stage? I don't mean to barrage
you with questions; it will be enough if you keep me informed as affairs
develop..Of course, I will also be very happy to hear how the Genetics teaching
program works out. Finallyg it begins to look as if Genetics will be nearly
the only basic science in the College of Agriculture at Berkeley. Are you satisfied |
in your own mind about the implications of this for the future status of the
Department? I don't anticipate a reply worthy of the queation by mail, and we
did go over this before. But I hadn't realized before that Agr. Biochemistry
would be redistributed. There will be tim: enough to learn more about these
matters when we see you next. I am also aware of the possibility that an
‘expensive’! appointment like my own might help in ite own way to fix policy, .
or at least depends on the fixation of it.

When I saw you last, we had some talk about indican: What I am hoping for

ia a possible source of indoxyl-B-glucoside, which is the onetime indican of.
commerce (extracted from Indigofera). Have you any current leads on that?

With best regards,

Tours sincerely,
i

 

P.S. I'm sure that anyone who reviewed this correspondence might conclude

that neither of us had anything else to do but patch up the details that go
with these arrangements. I don't expect that this is any truer of you than
myself, and we must beth be looking forward to the day when our discussions
will be about genetics rather than Genetics. Until then, 1 am very grateful

to you for the very great trouble to which you are going in managing all of
this. I know your formal reply would be, @Well, that's my job', but that doesn't
alter the fact. -