REVISED

After twelve years at the helm of The Whitehead Institute, I felt I had accomplished everything that I had set out to do as Director. Much of it had to do with building the annex to our building, which was a great success. If we tried to do that now, it wouldn't happen because there's no land left in Kendall Square today. The whole area subsequently became an international biotechnology mecca, and the Whitehead was there at the beginning. So it was the right time for me. I had had a very successful capital campaign and raised a the money to expand The Whitehead significantly; I had achieved many of the goals I had as Director.

Gerald Fink, geneticist, changed the field of molecular yeast biology. He is a professor of genetics at MIT, a founding member of both the Whitehead Institute and the American Cancer Society and a member of the National Academy of Sciences (1981). After receiving his Ph.D. from Yale University, he was a part of the Cornell faculty for fifteen years and also served as president of the Genetics Society of America.

In 1976, Fink’s lab succeeded in performing yeast transformation. Gerald Fink currently researches baker's yeast and explores critical pathways in cell growth and metabolism; applications include cancer research and the development of new anti-fungal drugs. He also directs a plant research group heralded for new insights into root growth and salt metabolism.

Although Fink grew up on Long Island, it was not until he attended the 1966 Symposium that he visited Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. In 1970, he began teaching the CSHL course on yeast molecular biology and continued doing so for 17 years. In 1999, he received the first honorary doctorate awarded by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.