# Have you met any Nobel Laureates? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 5, 2010, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-any-nobel-laureates/531440 "2010-03-05T17:29:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-any-nobel-laureates/531440/41 "2010-03-06T10:02:30Z")
> [@](#): > > **don’t mind me** : I used to see the same dentist as Linus Pauling. Hands that have been in the mouth of a Nobel laureate have been in my mouth. Now _that_ is something I can identify with. I believe that William Faulkner and I had the same psychiatrist at a small hospital in Memphis, but not at the same time. The same shrink who picked the brains of Faulkner…oh, never mind. Words fail me. But I’ve always loved Faulkner’s acceptance speech. ---
**Author:** ![leander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bcef8e/32.png) [@leander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leander)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-any-nobel-laureates/531440/42 "2010-03-06T10:11:26Z")
I went to the University of Chicago, so met several and had one as a prof my first year. Buncha damn drunks, those Laureates! (I keed, I keed) Funnily enough, I shared a dentist with Bill Maher at one point. Some weird shit has come out of that guy’s mouth… ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-any-nobel-laureates/531440/43 "2010-03-07T04:36:25Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > Kary Mullis certainly seems to get around. He was [name-checked in _The West Wing_](http://www.westwingepguide.com/S3/Episodes/49_OTDB.html), so he gets around in fiction. C.J., the press secretary played by Allison Janey, was going to be seated next to him for some state dinner and was all concerned that she didn’t know enough about science. It was hilarious, as when seated next to an attractive woman, science would not be the first thing on his mind. A mutual friend has a story about an evening with a shovel trying to find the mason jar of LSD Mullis made and buried just before it was made illegal. ---
**Author:** ![Tanbarkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@Tanbarkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanbarkie)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-any-nobel-laureates/531440/44 "2010-03-07T07:27:06Z")
I met a few Nobel laureates during grad school interviews. It was always a memorable experience. [Gunter Blobel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunter_blobel) keeps a trio of enormous dogs in his office, and is intimidatingly brilliant in that classic bombastic German scientist sort of way. [Eric Wieschaus](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Wieschaus) is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met, and I have the (somewhat dubious) honor of being the person who first explained to him what this “Guitar Hero” thing was and why it was so popular among my generation. I may have inadvertently convinced him to buy it for his grandkids. I’ve also seen several Nobel laureates give talks, including Craig Mello and recent prize-winner Jack Szostak. Apparently, Dr. Szostak’s laptop malfunctioned during his Nobel acceptance presentation - not sure who was more embarrassed, Szostak or the Nobel Committee folks. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-any-nobel-laureates/531440/45 "2010-03-07T15:30:22Z")
> [@Tanbarkie](#): > > [Eric Wieschaus](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Wieschaus) is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met, and I have the (somewhat dubious) honor of being the person who first explained to him what this “Guitar Hero” thing was and why it was so popular among my generation. I may have inadvertently convinced him to buy it for his grandkids. I know Eric - a good friend of mine did his post-doc with him. He is a very nice guy. ---
**Author:** ![mischievous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mischievous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mischievous)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-any-nobel-laureates/531440/46 "2010-03-07T22:21:34Z")
I have the dubious distinction of nearly killing a Nobel laureate. Richard Axel has a nasty habit of making U-turns without looking, and he drives a very small convertible sports-thingy. I came this::close to wiping him out one day. Anyways, I’ve met Richard Axel, Marty Chalfie, Eric Wieschaus, Mario Capecchi, Robert Horvitz, Eric Kandel, Stanley Pruisner, probably others - comes from doing biology in NYC. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-any-nobel-laureates/531440/47 "2010-03-07T22:48:59Z")
Does “attending a talk and maybe exchanging a couple of inane pleasantries over a handshake” count? If not, then no. But I have been to a party with Stephen Hawking, at Kip Thorne’s house, and also spoken with Thorne a bit at a few conferences. A few folks (including a good friend of mine) asked for and got pictures with Hawking, but I didn’t ask: I figure he’s a person, not a tourist attraction. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-any-nobel-laureates/531440/48 "2010-03-07T23:58:56Z")
> [@Darth\_Sensitive](#): > > I’ve met Dr. Norman Borlaug. I was in middle school, with the robotics team, and the finals were at Texas A and M. My science teacher arranged an appointment with him for us. He explained his work to us on our level and discussed what wat up in the field. > > Very cool guy. Wearing an OSU tie too! 😃 Cool. I tried nominating him for “greatest American of all time” in the Game Room, but he died too recently to count. Perhaps America’s greatest hero. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-any-nobel-laureates/531440/49 "2010-03-08T04:59:05Z")
Nope. Only people who act they were. But I _did_ meet Ron Jeremy. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-any-nobel-laureates/531440/50 "2010-03-08T05:43:13Z")
I know the grandson of the guy who won the Nobel for the science that made Viagra possible. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-any-nobel-laureates/531440/51 "2010-03-08T07:12:29Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Nope. Only people who act they were. > > But I _did_ meet Ron Jeremy. Sadly, Mr Jeremy’s work is unlikely to be honored by the Nobel committee any time soon. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-any-nobel-laureates/531440/52 "2010-03-08T10:12:02Z")
No Nobel laureate, but I’ve had a talk with Sture Allén, then permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy that awards Nobel prizes for literature. ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-any-nobel-laureates/531440/53 "2010-03-08T13:44:30Z")
I met Jimmy Carter. I met him the summer before he won the award, so I’m not sure it it counts. I was participating in the annual Jimmy Carter Work Project for Habitat for Humanity and we were building houses in South Africa. My 19th birthday was the last day of the build and my site manager some how got word to the Carter entourage that it was my birthday. So good ole’ JC stopped by the site and shook my hand and thanked me for spending my birthday doing something so noble and selfless on my birthday. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-any-nobel-laureates/531440/54 "2010-03-08T15:23:31Z")
Sir John Sulston lived in the same village as my parents (may still do), and I lived with a couple of guys who were working under him at the Sanger Centre nr. Cambridge. I lived opposite Prof Hawking’s house when I was a student in Cambridge - used to see him going for a roll down to the local curry house for dinner. Friend of mine (whose dad is Master of a cambridge college) was in a Cambridge supermarket one Saturday morning a few years back, and counted 4 Nobel laureates doing their weekly shopping. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-any-nobel-laureates/531440/55 "2010-03-08T15:23:34Z")
My P. Chem professor back in college (Rice University) was [Robert Curl](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Curl), who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1996 for the discovery of a new form of carbon, buckminsterfullerene (“buckyballs”), along with the late [Richard Smalley](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Smalley), also of Rice University (and Harold Kroto of the University of Sussex). At the time that Dr. Curl was teaching me P. Chem, he was in the process of completing the work that would lead to him being awarded the Nobel Prize. I attended a lecture for Rice alums by Dr. Smalley in 1996 after he received the Nobel Prize, and got to meet him, too. His death in 2005 was a tragic loss. ---
**Author:** ![Baby\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@Baby\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baby_Driver)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-any-nobel-laureates/531440/56 "2010-03-08T15:26:58Z")
Nevermind ---
**Author:** ![heatmiserfl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df705f/32.png) [@heatmiserfl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heatmiserfl)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-any-nobel-laureates/531440/57 "2010-03-08T15:47:56Z")
> [@mozchron](#): > > I know Eric - a good friend of mine did his post-doc with him. He is a very nice guy. I’ve never met Eric but he just looks like a nice guy. I met Liz Blackburn. A very nice lady. We spoke a little about science but mainly about her stint in Bush’s science ethics council. She found the Bush administration’s view of science to be very disturbing. Peter Agre gave a talk to my department so he visited me in my office. He was very encouraging about the funding problems young scientists are going through. We also talked about Stephen Colbert (check out what he says about Economics near the end. [Comedy Central Shows & Movies - Watch on Paramount+](http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/76990/october-19-2006/peter-agre?videoId=76990)). He is a shameless big flirt and I loved every minute of it! 😛 I’ve seen Watson give talks and he’s offensive but funny at the same time. Kinda like Bill Maher but worse. He did come to my university before I was here and, apparently, managed to offend all the women and minority graduate students. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-any-nobel-laureates/531440/58 "2010-03-08T15:53:28Z")
> [@mischievous](#): > > …Eric Kandel… Sweet! Did you get to speak to him? I’ve “met” a few, but I use quotes here, because it was only to listen to them speak. No interaction ever. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-any-nobel-laureates/531440/59 "2010-03-08T16:13:29Z")
> [@Rack-a-Bones](#): > > I was in Guatemala when she won her prize in 1992. I got to meet her after a speech she gave. If you know her history you know what a significant date that was and also how dangerous it was for her to be in Guatemala. She traveled around with a group of Americans (Peace Corps I think) who would stand around her on stage. Theory was that the Guatemalan Army wouldn’t risk shooting an American. Nitpick: The escort probably wasn’t Peace Corps. They’ve got a pretty firm no-political-activism policy. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby\_Slippers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/94ad74/32.png) [@Ruby\_Slippers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby_Slippers)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-any-nobel-laureates/531440/60 "2010-03-08T17:43:23Z")
I met Eugene Wigner, who won the Nobel for physics in 1963. He and Edward Teller (often called the father of the H-bomb) were visiting the congressional office where I worked in the late 60’s (probably in connection with disarmament issues). While I didn’t really get into a conversation with either of them, Teller used a phone at an empty desk right behind mine. I remember stuffing kleenex into my ears to block out the sound – he was LOUD! Wigner, on the other hand, was as quiet as a mouse. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-any-nobel-laureates/531440.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-any-nobel-laureates/531440.md?page=4)