BIOCHEMISTRY

• Please tell us a little about yourself.
  Where did you grow up? Go to school?

I was born in Providence RI and raised in Durham, NC. Went to undergrad at UC Berkeley, grad at CU Boulder

• Where did you carry out your postdoctoral research?

Cambridge University, UK

• As a child, who was your biggest influence?

As a kid, my parents. As a teen, Bob Dylan.

• Why did you decide to study science?

I found animal development amazing and wanted to understand how it worked.

• Why did you come to Madison? When?

1983. Several reasons: I’ve always been a strong supporter of public universities, UW-Madison is exceptional in both depth and breadth, and Madison seemed like a great place to live.

• What do you like most about being a professor?

Essentially everything – except perhaps the ever-increasing bureaucracy.

• What is the focus of your research?

Molecular regulation of stem cell self-renewal and differentiation

• What do you consider your major accomplishments?

I’ve been lucky to have made a few contributions which are listed in my biosketch.

• What advice would you provide to a new assistant professor who is just starting his/her career?

Remember to breathe!

• When you are not working, what do you like to do?

Reading, walking

• What is your favorite place in Madison?

The trail from Raymer’s Cove to Picnic Point

• Favorite Quote

“One could do worse than be a swinger of birches.” - Robert Frost

• Friends Describe Me

Hmmm, good question.

• Fantasy Dinner Guests

At the moment, I most want the people in my lab to be able to come over.

• Best Advice I Ever Received

When you go to a job or grant interview, just be yourself.

• My Worst Subject In School

Scuba diving

• If I Weren't A Professor, I Would

Good question, depends on when you ask. Today? I might run for Congress.

• In College I Drove

VW Squareback

• Favorite Books

From my youth: A Mathematician’s Apology and The Prime of Life: The Autobiography of Simone de Beauvoir

More recently: Janesville: An American Story, Evicted, Just Mercy, Hillbilly Elegy, and Grounded: A Senator's Lessons on Winning Back Rural America

• Favorite City

Madison

• Favorite Movie

Most recently: Parasite

• Favorite Coffee

Black and simple, preferably French press but I learned in the UK that Nescafe works just fine

• Current Research

RNA regulatory networks and their control of stem cell self-renewal

• My Latest Accomplishment
• Shoveling the six feet deep bank of snow that the snow plow left.
• Nobody Knows I…

- Hated London until Marv convinced me that it is heaven on earth

- Was a faculty member for two years at the University of Copenhagen Medical School (lowest possible rank), before grad school.