Quotes Of The Year

In C&EN’s Quotes of the Year feature, we reprint the Intriguing statements made in our pages in 2011 that we think give the best look back at the year in chemistry.

January 24

“A lot of people are in favor of innovative funding models—as long as you continue to fund their research.”
Alan Guttmacher, Director, National Institute Of Child Health & Human Development

January 31

“In the end, I think that there is really only one employment data point that matters—yours.”

David Harwell, assistant director, ACS Department Of Career Management & Development

March 28

Robert Burns Woodward “just had that nerdy Elvis Costello look.”

Scott Severson, album cover artist, 4 Out Of 5 Doctors

May 9

“We consider synthetic chemistry to be very outsourceable. Frankly, we don’t do any of it in-house anymore.”

Kerry L. Spear, vice president of medicinal chemistry, Sunovion Pharmaceuticals

May 30

“You can’t hire a team of scientists to do your shopping for you.”

Jessica Alba; celebrity spokeswoman; Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families

June 13

“In the U.S., we’re not so much addicted to oil; we are addicted to simple solutions and silver bullets.”

Shirley Ann Jackson, President, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

July 25

“Sometimes it’s the wacky science that you most don’t want to miss supporting.”

Francis S. Collins, Director, National Institutes of Health

August 8

“This is our fifth report where the annual change in female leadership remained flat. If this trend line represented a patient’s pulse, she’d be dead.”

Ilene H. Lang, President, Catalyst

August 29

“A lot of people from scientific backgrounds hesitate to take risks.”

Shri Thanedar, CEO, Avomeen Analytical Services

September 26

“We used to tell students that, if you take an advanced degree in chemistry, your career will be secure. That’s not true anymore.”

Ronald Breslow, University Professor, Columbia University