This past weekend I traveled back to University of Illinois Urbana Champaign to celebrate my postdoc advisor, John Katzenellenbogen, for his 80th birthday. It was an amazing day celebrating his legacy of 55 years at UIUC, the trainees he has mentored over the years, and the scientific contributions he has made.
I remember fondly when I was starting my postdoc search and I was getting advice from Dr. Donald McDonnell about where to apply. When I told him about my career path and desire to work in chemical biology, he said, you have to work with John Katzenellenbogen. I am grateful for the experiences I had for the 2.5 years I worked in his lab – he taught me how to manage way too many projects at one time, how to appreciate collaborative science, and how to stay up on literature even when everything is busy. I try to emulate his mentoring style of encouraging students down the path that they want for themselves instead of turning them into clones of myself.
Congratulations, Dr. K! You are remarkable and the world is better because of all you have done.
~jap
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