Word: wald
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Politics has become Wald's consuming interest, and while it has not reduced his effectiveness as a teacher, he says the ensuing commitments and pressures have "disrupted the continuity" of his life, making it more difficult to conduct research. It would be unfair to fault Wald for ignoring research in favor of politics, however, because as Mendelsohn notes, most biologists tend to produce their major work early in their career. Following Wald's perception of a scientist's role, his activism is not a substitute for research but its logical extension...
...Wald's political involvement has brought him numerous critics, especially within the Harvard community. After the University accepted a $1 million grant from South Korean businessmen allegedly connected with the Park regime, Wald publicly urged Harvard to return the money...
...faculty oversight committee approved recombinant DNA research--gene splicing--at Harvard, but Wald, placing what he saw to be the community interest over scientific advancement, brought the issue before the Cambridge City Council. Wald's vociferous protests before the council resulted in a temporary city-ordered ban on the research. One Harvard proponent of DNA research says, "Some faculty members feel that it was incessantly self-righteous of him to invoke Mayor Vellucci's help when he couldn't convince committee of his peers to stop the p-3 facility." (The p-3 facility is the laboratory, now under construction...
...Wald is married to Ruth Hubbard '45, professor of Biology, and she has joined him in his radical causes. She has taught Biology 106 "Biology of Social Issues," and testified against DNA research at a Senate hearing this spring. Wald sent his own written testimony to the same set of hearings...
Following commencement, Wald will leave for Rome and Tokyo to participate in conferences on nuclear armaments and nuclear power. He plans to return to his home in Woods Hole, Mass., to write on scientific topics and maintain his political activities. Even though he never fit the institutional mold and eschewed gray flannels for a turtleneck sweater and medallion, Wald has left an indelible mark upon Harvard. He is at times "a pain in the neck to the administration," as one admirer says, but he is still universally respected in spite or because of his politics...