When UC Davis Distinguished Professor Walter Leal of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology headed for Washington D.C. in April to be inducted into the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), he stopped by the Albert Einstein memorial, located at the corner of the NAS grounds.
Leal read Einstein's three quotations on the sculpture bench. Captivating. Inspirational. Motivational. Fuel for thought.
The 12-foot-high, 4-ton bronze figure holds a paper with mathematical equations summarizing three of Einstein's most important scientific contributions: the photoelectric effect, the theory of general relativity, and the equivalence of energy and matter. The three quotations:
- As long as I have any choice in the matter, I shall live only in a country where civil liberty, tolerance, and equality of all citizens before the law prevail.
- Joy and amazement of the beauty and grandeur of this world of which man can just form a faint notion.
- The right to search for truth implies also a duty; one must not conceal any part of what one has recognized to be true.
NAS unveiled the Einstein memorial on April 22, 1979, in honor of the centennial of his birth. It was sculpted by Boston-born Robert Berks.
Fast forward to today when academic research is in jeopardy.
Leal is the force behind a UC Davis-based webinar, “Beyond the Headlines: The Invisible Power of Academic Research” set Tuesday, July 1. The open-acces webinar will take place from 1 to 3 p.m. Pacific Time, and will feature Nobel Laureate Randy Schekman, a Distinguished Professor in the UC Berkeley Department of Molecular and Cell Biology.
Leal is not only coordinating it, but producing it. Registration is underway at https://tinyurl.com/4krenb5.
“Behind nearly every major advancement in medicine, technology, national security, and economic growth lies a powerful but often overlooked engine: academic research,” said Leal, internationally recognized for his entomological research and a former chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology. "This webinar brings that story to the forefront, featuring Nobel Laureate Randy Schekman in conversation with a panel of distinguished experts. Due to scheduling conflicts, Nobel Laureates David Julius and Torsten Wiesel, along with other prominent scholars, will contribute their insights via recorded video messages. Together, these esteemed voices will underscore the critical role of federally funded university research in driving America’s global leadership in science and innovation. The conversation will spotlight the enduring partnership between the federal government and U.S. research universities, a collaboration that fuels discovery, advances the public good, and shapes the future, often without public recognition. Join us as we bring this essential, yet too often untold, story into the light.”
Schekman, a NAS member and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, and colleagues James Rothman and Thomas Südhof shared the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their pioneering discoveries on the mechanisms of vesicle trafficking in cells.
Leal laments the unraveling partnerships between the federal government and the nation’s research universities. “For 80 years, the partnership between the federal government and the United States’ research universities has been a powerful engine driving the nation’s scientific leadership, economic strength, and long-term prosperity," Leal said. "Quietly but profoundly, this collaboration has fueled breakthrough discoveries, advanced the public good, and strengthened the country’s future in medicine, technology, national security, and economic growth.”
“At a time when academic institutions face increased scrutiny, it is more important than ever to demonstrate to taxpayers how their investment in high-risk, high-reward research yields lasting benefits,” Leal said. “A distinguished panel of scholars will highlight how each federal research dollar generates significant economic returns, often hundreds of dollars per dollar invested, while equipping the next generation of innovators to tackle the complex challenges of tomorrow."
Be sure to watch the webinar on July 1. Academic research is in jeopardy.