Joseph F. Clark, Ph.D.

 Chapter 17. Two More Weddings and a Tragic Death My sister Kathy was getting married to Pete, her longtime boyfriend, and both my brother and I would be in the wedding party. I would be “fourth best man” or “second to worst man” in the 6-man party (including the groom and 5 groomsmen). Ann was [...]

While editing my thesis Dr. Dillon would give me handwritten comments and I would make the changes and often expand the text to make things clearer. Then I gave the new drafts back to Dr. Dillon and the process would repeat itself. I kept the hard copies of all of the stages of my thesis, [...]

After my engagement epiphany, the rest of the day with Bill Jacobus passed quickly. I could hardly wait to get back to Ann, all the while galvanizing in my head how to pitch a move to Toledo to Ann, including how this would be a solid step in our relationship. I still had a one-hour [...]

I was focused on thesis writing, but there were other things I needed to do to secure my career track. I had to prepare for what I would be doing after my postdoc in France. Trying to line up a job over a year in advance is difficult at best. I needed to consider the [...]

 Chapter 16. My Data Go Primetime  After deciding to do a one-year postdoc in Paris, I needed to start planning for the job after that back in the USA. It would be easier to apply for and interview for a job in the USA while still in the USA. I didn’t want to start applying [...]

The first day and a half for Renee was relatively low stress with just simple chats and lunch talks. During the first research discussion I had with Renee she made it clear that I was very welcome in her lab, that she expected me there in January (18 months from now) and that she had [...]

There were two pivotal meetings scheduled for Renee that could shape the perception of the success or failure of the trip. One was her talk to the Department of Physiology, and the second was a one-on-one meeting with Ron Myer. Dr. Myer was a known opponent of the compartmentation theory and Dr. Ventura-Clapier was a [...]

It was important for me to get a grant to support my research because the politics of higher education and research are an amalgam of the altruistic scientist who wants to do the greatest good for humankind and may put his or her life at risk to expand human knowledge, and the empire builder in [...]

Ann and I had many conversations about my putative plans to go to Paris to do my postdoctoral studies. She felt that she could not spend a whole year out of the country. She was close to her family and did not want to be away from them. Her pilot lessons were also going well [...]

It is sometimes hard to comprehend all the work that goes on in the scientific community. This is because there are multiple disciplines in science and these can overlap and get complicated. Confusion occurs because sometimes the scientific terms used can be different depending upon which community you talk to. For example, physicists and chemists [...]