DEPARTMENT OF MEDICAL GENETICS
SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Please Reply To
GENETICS BUILDING

THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN
MADISON 6

July 19, 1958

 

 

SECEIVED.

JUL 22 1958
PRESIDENTS CFAICE

 

DEPARTMENT OF GENETICS
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE

President C. A. Elvehjem
University of Wisconsin
Madison 6, Wisconsin

Dear President Elvehjem:

As you know | have agreed to accept an appointment as Professor of Gene-
tics at the Stanford University School of Medicine. If it is mutually agree-
able and convenient, | would like to be placed on leave status (without pay)
until September I, 1959 or even to June 30, 1960, in order to facilitate the
termination of research grants and to meet the needs of some students comple-
ting their graduate study. The most likely date of my departure is April 1,

1959, but I hope to work out a final deciston on this point with Deans Froker
and Bowers.

| am sure you recognize the character of the special opportunity at
Stanford which was a major factor in my decision to move. Genetics and
biochemistry are rapidly converging on the fine structure and biosynthesis
of nucleic acid, but there are very few individual workers or balanced re-
search teams that can most effectively bridge the gap between the two sciences.
As you know, Professor Kornberg is a preeminent worker in nucleic acid bio-
chemistry, having done the pioneering work on their enzymatic synthesis. The
pending move of his entire department whose interests are all focused on re-
lated problems and Stanford University's proffer of a chair in Genetics, with
closely integrated laboratory facilities, made for a unique opportunity to con-
verge on what I consider to be the most salient problem in biology today.

That this opportunity has arisen elsewhere would reflect no discredit
to Wisconsin, except perhaps In the limitation of my own imagination during
the past several years when I should have anticipated these developments
and made more vigorous proposals to meet them here. With the scientific
interest and insight of its officers, | have no doubt at all that Wisconsin
can and will be the seat of equally striking research in this field. How-
ever, our present faculties in biochemistry are already preoccupied with
other problems just as valid and significant as the biosynthesis of nucleic
acids in microorganisms. It is a rare occasion, when, as. at Stanford, an
entire department of biochemistry can be built in one piece, and oriented

in such a way as to complement perfectly another biologist's resources and
interests.

My association with Wisconsin since 1947 has been most happy and pro-
ductive. | have always had the most cordial relationships with its officers,
and they have always been at least one step ahead of my reasonable aspirations
in such matters as relative salary and rank. As for the rest of the faculty,
-~2->

it is enough to say that Wisconsin is an ideal place for scholarly work. I
shall be fortunate if the specific programmatic opportunity at Stanford is
matched by an overall academic setting and the wise and sympathetic admin-
istration of its affairs that matches these elements at Wisconsin. You can
be sure that my eagerness to advance specific aspects of my research is
tempered by anticipated regrets for the Wisconsin academic climate and for
the friendships my wife and I have built up here.

Finally, ! want to record my special appreciation for Dean Bowers with
whom | have been most closely associated during the past two years. He has
had rare vision and zeal in promoting the growth of research opportunities
at our medical School and | will miss his leaderShip and support, especially
for the program in medical genetics in which we have both been especially
interested. I know that my successor in this field can look forward to a
remarkable opportunity in a congenial setting. This would not be possible
if it were not for the sympathetic cooperation of our colleagues in the
College of Agriculture.

! hope you will do me the favor of communicating this letter to the
Regents of the University. With deepest personal appreciations,

Yours sincerely,

shua Lederberg

CC: Dean Bowers
Dean Froker
Professor Irwin