NEW YORK UNIVERSITY—BELLEVUE MEDICAL CENTER

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
550 FIRST AVENUE, NEW YORK 16, N.Y,

DEPARTMENT OF PHARMACOLOGY April 8, 1957 OREGON 9-3200

Dr.Joshua Lederberg
Department of Genetics
University of Wisconsin:

Dear Joshua:

Liz and I thank you for the heather, which you no doubt carried along
from Pontecorvo's. You really shouldn't have gone to such trouble? Seriously,
we're awfully sorry we didn't overlap with your stay in New York. I hope you
found it confortabbp here.

On my way back I stopped at Boston and had a talk with Dean Berry at
the Medical School. I told him about your negotiations with the Biology Department,
and he assured me that the Medical School would be glad to place at your disposal
all possible facilities for any studies you might care to, undertake involving
medical material. JI would personally hope, too, that we wi be able tc get you to
do some regular lecturing on a small scaie to the medical students. In any case,
I know that you've been developing increasing interestg in tr problem of genetics
in the Medical School at Wisconsin, and I would like to emphasize the advantages
of Harvard for such work. It is still in my opinion the best medicai school in
the country and attracts the best bunch of students. In the past the relations
between the Biology Department and the Medical School have not been as close as
they might, but with the current trends in research, and with new hybrids such
as myself coming into the Medical School, I expect the relations will become a
lot closer. I don't know how well you know Harvard Medical School, but I'd be
giad to help you get better acquainted with the place when you come East agains
and I would certainly hope that before making any decision about the Harvard job,
you would consider the Medical School an important part of the world you would be
moving into.

I mentioned to you awhile ago that you are my leading candidate for a
vacant chair at the Medical School - the Fabyan Professorship which Dubos
vacated ten years ago. I don't think it would be appropriate for the Medical
School to compete directly with the Biology Department at this time nor could
it probably move fast enough to add a formal offer to the ones you are now consid-
ering. Furthermore, with your interests as a biologist, it would probably be more
appropriate for you to be located in the Biology Department with a strong connection
with the Medical School rather than vica versa. Hcwever, if for some reason things
don't work out at the Biology Department and you have an interest in the possibility
of coming to the Medical School, I hope very much that you will let me know at
once.

1831-32 One Hundred Twenty-fifth Anniversary 1956-57

A Private University in the Public Service
Dr. Joshua Lederberg 2. April 8, 1957

As I've already thrown in my lot with Harvard, I can no longer pretend to
be disinterested. However, I think that if you, Henry Kaplan, and I should all
be at Harvard it would be a more exciting place for each of us than it might have
seemed to any one of us alone.

With best regards.

Sincerely,
Bernard D. Davis