One in particular, Mrs. Gordon. I hated her. I took AP English. The AP courses were just starting in the ’50s. And you could take a maximum of two. I took Chemistry and AP English. Today, the kids come into Duke, they have ten, 12, 15 AP courses. They start taking AP courses in their first year of high school. It’s absolutely amazing. Mrs. Gordon taught AP English. And she took a disliking to me for some reason early on, and she didn’t like the way I wrote, so she gave me very bad grades on all my essays. She pounded into me about how to write clear, effective, succinct English. And I learned those lessons well. But what I remember — and I pay her a tremendous tribute for that because there’s no more important skill, certainly for a scientist, but really for almost any profession, than to be able to express yourself clearly and succinctly. And I think she really taught me that.
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Robert J. Lefkowitz
Physician and biochemist; Nobel laureate in chemistry for work on G protein-coupled receptors
United States · b. 1943
Science and medicine
About
Cardiologist and investigator at Duke University who identified and cloned the adrenergic receptors. Shared the 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with his former trainee Brian Kobilka.
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