Symposium to honor Joshua Lederberg

Some of the world’s foremost scientists, statesmen and policymakers will gather at The Rockefeller University for “A Scientific Medley: Celebratory Symposium in Honor of Dr. Joshua Lederberg,” Monday, October 17, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. in Rockefeller University’s Caspary Auditorium. Lederberg, president emeritus of The Rockefeller University, is a pioneering molecular geneticist who served as an advisor to nine U.S. presidential administrations. The symposium is in honor of his 80th birthday.

Among those who will pay tribute to Lederberg’s more than 50-year career in service to science and government are molecular biologist Stanley N. Cohen, biotechnology pioneer Gordon Ringold, former U.S. Secretary of Defense William J. Perry and former World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn. A complete list of speakers can be found at www.rockefeller.edu/events/lederberg.

Lederberg has made extraordinary contributions to science and academia, government and international affairs. A graduate of New York City’s Stuyvesant High School and Columbia College, he went on to earn a Ph.D. in microbiology at Yale University in 1947. In the course of his doctoral research, he made the unexpected discovery that a form of sexual reproduction occurs in bacteria, demonstrating that bacteria possess a genetic mechanism similar to that of higher organisms, including humans. This work – for which he earned a Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1958, at the age of 33 – helped lay the foundation for the current revolution in molecular biology and biotechnology.

In 1947 Lederberg joined the faculty of the University of Wisconsin, and in 1959 he moved to the Stanford University School of Medicine. There he founded the genetics department and also served as a professor of biology and computer science, pioneering the area of artificial intelligence. From 1978 to 1990, Lederberg was the fifth president of The Rockefeller University. Today, at Rockefeller, he heads the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics and Informatics, which currently explores the ultimate limits governing the rate of bacterial growth.

Throughout his career, Lederberg has taken important advisory roles in government, serving as scientific counselor to world leaders on issues ranging from cancer and emerging infectious diseases to space exploration and biological weapons disarmament. He was co-chairman of the Carnegie Commission on Science, Technology and Government; chairman of the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment Advisory Council; and chairman of the New York Academy of Sciences. He also has been a member of the U.S. Defense Science Board and a director of the Council on Foreign Relations.