Document Type

Response or Comment

Publication Date

7-22-1986

Keywords

Interview, Jackson Laboratory, History, Scientists, Transcript, Susan Mehrtens

JAX Location

The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine

JAX Source

The Jackson Laboratory Historical Archives

Comments

Susan Mehrten's Note:

ThlS lnterview took place amld the opulence of the Four Seasons Clift Hotel in San Francisco, where Ebert was staying while working on a project for the National Academy of Science. He had just flown in from Washington that afternoon and gave this interview after putting in a fifteen-hour day. Characteristic of the man, this context of fatigue/stress doesn't come through at all: His interview is pointed, succinct and full of cogent assessments of the three Directors of the Lab he has worked with (Green, Prehn and Sanford), as both a Lab Trustee and Board of Scientific Overseers member. This interview is also rich in assessments of the Lab's current situation, its challenges and opportunities. In his vision of -the Lab's ideal s~ze and identity, Ebert echoes many others, both Trustees and scientists, in wanting to see the Lab retain its present size. Ebert gives his own perspective on the final days of Prehn's Directorship, which should be compared to accounts given by Prehn himself, Coleman, Harrison and others. Also noteworthy here is Ebert's estimate of the Lab's place in twentieth-century science; from a man with a national, even an international, perspective. Given the very candid and blunt assessments Ebert makes of some people here, he may decide to edit this tape extensively. If not, value this interview for its wealth of insights and evaluations of the major players in the Lab's recent history.

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