HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY

12 Oxford Street
Cambridge 38, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

May 22, 1958

Professor Joshua Lederberg
Department of Genetics
College of Agriculture

The University of Wisconsin.
Madison 6, Wisconsin

Dear Joshuas

The only person I can suggest for your opening that you do
not surely know better than I is Sidney Brenner. In this case I
do not know his past work and can only judge from his many
conversations I have had with him here in Cambridge, England, where
I have been since February. His background ranges from physical
chemistry to neurophysiology and the work that he is doing now on
the components of bacteriophage will, I think, deserve the label
"classic." So far as I can judge he has an extremely broad and
fundamental knowledge of both genetics and biochemistry, I think
I have enjoyed more my conversations with him than anyone else here,

So from this very personal appraisal I should recommend him to you
very highly.

I do not know Ernst Freese nearly as well although he attended
my lectures in macromolecules last fall and we had » number of
discussions after class. To me his most striking characteristic wags
the intensity with which he is applying himself to his own perticular
problem, In my conversations with him he showed a great deal of
physical intuition and an enormous drive. My chief worry about him
would be in whether or not he would obtain the breadth of knowledge
‘and interest that you would probably like to have. On the other hand,
Ido not think the effectiveness of his intense precccupation should
be underestimated, Aside from this, however, I think you will have
to devend uwoen Jim and Seymour for a complete evaluation of him,

With regard to our own problems, you should certainly know that
Pontecorvo has taken the place you occupied a year ago. Unfértunately
it looks as though the outcome will be the same because Cambridge
has apparently decided to give him what he wants and so it appears
that he will come here. I don't know where we shall turn next but
we shall probably be asking your advice, Meanwhile, Jim Watson is
being promoted to Associate Professor and Pappenheimer will arrive
in the fall. But we have a long way to go.

With very best regards,
Sincerely yours,

QQ

Paul Doty u
PDelwli

Dictated by Professor Doty but signed in his absence.