Interview with David Baltimore - Caltech Oral Histories

Baltimore–iii
51-55
1975 Nobel Prize with Temin and Dulbecco. Awards ceremony; premature announcement by G.
Klein in Copenhagen; Huang phones him. Reaction at home.
56-68
Founding of Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. J. Whitehead’s history; his selection
of DB as director and MIT as site, 1982. NAS committee on national strategy for AIDS, 1986.
W. Rosenblith, S. Wolff. Prospects for AIDS vaccine. T. Imanishi-Kari episode; comments on
J. Dingell. Resigns Rockefeller presidency 1991; stays on to do research; returns to MIT 1994.
Session 3
69-79
1996, approached by Caltech presidential search committee chaired by K. Thorne. First
approach ten years earlier. Secretive vetting process; D. Kevles book; Caltech’s reputation in
biology. NIH AIDS vaccine program. Presidential inauguration, March 1998.
Hale Solar Observatory. Purchase of St. Luke’s Medical Center, 2003; 30-meter telescope
design project. DB’s lab on immunology. Establishing Broad Center for the Biological
Sciences. Comments on Caltech architecture.
80-88
89-99
Capital campaign, $1.4 billion; record $600 million gift of G. Moore; involvement of W.
Weisman. Building of Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics. R. Serra controversy.
Problems with R. Koolhaas and Annenberg Center for Information Science and Technology.
Receives National Medal of Science from Pres. Clinton, March 2000.
100-106
2005, DB lab gets $14 million grant from Gates Foundation. Comments on U. Penn gene
therapy trials resulting in death of J. Gelsinger. Comments on L. Van Parijs dismissal from MIT
and prior work in DB lab. DB continues research in his lab in wake of Caltech presidency.
Comments on prospects for human enhancement and understanding of consciousness.