Jim Dahlberg on Career in Science
  Jim Dahlberg     Biography    
Recorded: 04 Jun 2001

I always found science interesting and easy. And, exciting so I just thought it would be the most rewarding way of spending my life. When I went to, well I was an undergraduate and I studied biochemistry at Haverford College, and then I went to the M.D./PhD Program at the University of Chicago. And that was in 1962, I started at Chicago. And I decided after two years, in the second year I started to do clinical work. And I realized that I really didn’t like sick people all that much. And it’s kind of a mistake to be a doctor if you don’t like sick people. And so I just decided that I would just go for the Ph.D. part of the M.D./PhD. And in the meantime while I was in medical school I’d taken as many graduate courses as I could in biochemistry, so after two years of med school I switched over to biochemistry and finished all of my training in another two years and so I was out in ’66.

Jim Dahlberg received his BA 1962, Haverford College, Pennsyvlania, completed his PhD 1966, University of Chicago. Dr. Dahlberg was a Postdoctoral Fellow from 1966-68 in the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge under the supervision of two-times Nobelist, Dr. Frederick Sanger. He also did worked in the 1968-69, Universite de Geneve under Dr. Richard Epstein.

Dr. Dahlberg is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, 1996, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiologists (1997) During his career he has been the recipient of many awards including Eli Lilly Award for Biological Chemistry, 1974; H.I. Romnes Faculty Research Fellowship, 1976; Philips Visitor, 1977; Josiah Macy, Jr. Faculty Scholar Award, 1979-80; Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1982; Frederick Sanger Professorship, 1991; American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1993; Fellow, U.W. Hilldale Professor, 1997; Buzzati-Traverso Award for Molecular Biology, Italian National Research Council, 1998; NIH Merit Award, 1998; European Molecular Biology Organization, Foreign Associate, 1998.

(http://www.medsch.wisc.edu/bmolchem/dahlberg/dahlberg.html)

He is a frequent visitor to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory as well as a speaker at many key Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology.

SCIENTISTS SPEAKING ABOUT BECOMING A SCIENTIST
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