Dear College of Science Faculty and Staff,
On Wednesday this week, I set my alarm for 3:00 and got right up without hitting the snooze button. The occasion was the Balinsky Symposium being held in Johannesburg, South Africa, at 9:00, six hours ahead of Boston. Boris Balinsky was a Ukrainian embryologist who emigrated to Johannesburg and became a professor at Wits University, my alma mater. He did groundbreaking work, including demonstrating that limbs (arms and legs) can form anywhere along theside of the animal as it forms, not only in the places where they are generally found. Using transplants of certain cells, Dr. Balinsky spectacularly encouraged a fifth limb to grow on the flank of a newt embryo. One of Dr. Balinsky’s graduate students was Barry Fabian, who progressed to be a professor at Wits, taught me as an undergraduate, remained a mentor and over time, became a dear friend. Dr. Fabian introduced me to the wonder of frog embryos, that helped define my life’s research, and set me en route to becoming an authority of the Xenopusmodel. So, I’m Dr. Balinsky’s academic grandchild, and therefore involved in theSymposium. The Symposium had been rescheduled several times due to the war in Ukraine, but everything came together this week, with Ukrainian and South African dignitaries, scientists, historians, and family. The short talk from now very senior Professor Fabian was alone worth getting up for. He looked on proudly as I gave my talk, and I could acknowledge the heritage of his mentorship and Dr. Balinsky’s influence in the trajectory of my career.
The term heritage can have complex connotations, but ‘something transmitted by or acquired from a predecessor’ works, and one can emphasize the positive as ‘something valuable transmitted by or acquired from a predecessor’. Each one of us is connected to our heritage, and each one of us is leaving a heritage. We hope that our contributions are viewed favorably and that we have been helpful. In our Northeastern College of Science, the positive heritage you are building is enormous. Every semester you brilliantly teach, every thoughtful letter of recommendation you write, every supportive conversation with a student or colleague, builds your wonderful heritage. Every study that you publish builds your heritage for decades or more. Every student or postdoc trainee coming through your research group takes the lessons of how research can be done into their career, and your influence is huge. Every expert aspect of your oversight and administration leaves a strong heritage that sets an example for others to follow. Thank you for your outstanding contributions, thank you for building a heritage of which you can be proud, that promotes the Good Power of Science and the excellent future of our College of Science.
Warm wishes to everyone, for a lovely holiday weekend.