Febr. 23, 1959
Art Kornberg -Biochemistry

Hello, Arthur:

Just a word of greetings fron Stanford, now that we are more or less settled
down now, After several weeks of motels, we finally rented a furnished house
on campus (Prof.-em, Brand's) at 433 Gerona Road. We have an option on a Pine Hill
Lot and will eventually strat building. My home phone is DA~3~38163; lah (Biophysics
in the Hanses Labs area) is DA-3-244. Everyone here has, of course, gone out of
their way tobe helpful; though Alway has been somewhat vague now and then about
funds, everything seems to be coming along quite satisfactorily. Our rather large
Genetics training grant has been tentatively approved, and we are mainly waiting
for the center to be finished and fo r your arrival to get serio;sly under way.

We've abandoned (or postponed) our plans to take 3 months off in Italy this
spring: it just looks impossible now. But I (we?) will be away from about May 15-
June 10 to take in some meetings that involved firm obligations. Also I may be
away a few days in early March for sone space—biology bsiness in Amsterdan.

We'd had some fine weather for a while, which was a balm to tired travellers;
but the last ten days or so have been steady rain, usual for this time of year,
We were momentarily anxious about afl of you when we heard about the St Louis
tornado; we trust all of you were well out of its path.

The temporary lab in Biophysics is working out, more or dess well-- it is cramped,
But on the whole, coming out} here early was @ wise decision, I think,and it will
mean a much better working schedule this summer and fall. There is still a great
deal of planning to do, and it's better done here than in Madison,

Len Herzenberg was out here last week to complete the discussion of his appointment,
This seems satisfactorily settled, and he should be here in October go get our
tissue-cell-genetics program under way. The next opening is either in mammalian or
in himan genetics and somewhat of a poser, since it does not seem probable that
Crow or MitchZson or Cavalli cares to leave his present position just now. There
just sren't very many well trained people working in mammalian genetics nowadays——

& situation our department should try to help remedy. One possibility in the very
back of my mind, and it is problematical fron several standpoints, is Elizabeth Russell
from Bar Harbors. She 1s one of the outstanding figures in this field, but I dontt
kaka know hay much weight to place on her age and her still rather conventional
outlook in genetics, Probably a wiser point of view would te be that Stanford would

be fortunate to have her, and it is a question whether we have what it takes (mainly
space) to set her up properly as a center of mouse genetics, If you have any thoughts
on these matters, you know I welcome your counsel,

Kretchjmer as you know is already named as Pediatrician I hardly know how to
evaluate his scientific standing. I knew him very well as a child, but hardly at
all since them, The biggest wuestion now is, I suppose, Irv London and whether Stanford
will look as attractive to him as it does to us. One issue here is certainly space,
and strong representations will be made to the trustees for Blank Byilding partly
on his account, but there is another one in which you may play some part:
Londen says one of his chief motivations is the chance to develop academic
medicine, which includes research training for sane of his internists in basic
sciences, I suspect he is rather concerned that your own perfectionism and
edversion from clinical investigation might limit the advantages that such a
superb Biochemistry Department might offer as part of the context for his
interests. I think he does need assurance as to the extent of your own interest
in his program. If ¥™u want to be instrumental in attracting the best people

in the clinical departments, I think we have to offer sanething oubselves, and
that is that the basic sciences will have same relation tama to them. &t the
very least, I suppose the M.D. ought not to be held as prima facie evidence
against the possible qualifications of a postdoctoral @ellow to learn Blochenistry
or Genetics, I was delighted to meet London mys@lf, and can just hope we do
get somewhere with him.

Psychiatry is moving along too— the search committee had a man called Branch
out here (fron Utah). I couldn&t get a strong impression of him -~ he seems to
have no strong convictions about any single approach to psychiatric mechanisms,
and IT don't know what particular contributions he has made or what standing he
has in the field,

Have you reconciled yourself to Johnson for Chemistry here? | have heard
only the best about his former student Djerassi who would apparently be part of
the package. Djerassi will he out here next week and | look forward to meeting

him, Just in case this tack does founder, { might suggest that you look at a

man called Szwarc who Is a polymer chemist and heads a chemistry department at
Syracuse. (Some people | know there also think very highky of him.) | only happen
to be Interested In some of his work on polymers (cf. Chem Reviews 47:75; J.
Chem. Phys. 29 No.2/); Nature, 178:1168) and physical chemistry of free radicals.
Whatever more | know of him you'd find In American Men of Science.

For now,

As ever

Joshua Lederberg