Interview with David Baltimore - Caltech Oral Histories

Baltimore-74
LIPPINCOTT: You don’t have any visual recollections, or—
BALTIMORE: Well, it was a very thoughtful conversation. They were a terrific group. And Kip
of course was the clear driving force, and he was fabulous—he is fabulous—in the depth of his
understanding of Caltech, the kinds of considerations that he brought up. We talked about
everything from the role of the presidency, the value system that I care about, the—
LIPPINCOTT: I think Mel Simon says that you wanted a lab, also, if you were to come as
president. Is that right
BALTIMORE: It is right, but I didn’t make that decision right off. I don’t think that came up in
the first conversations at all, and probably not when I came out for— Because I finally came out
to meet all the— I see: When I met Mel was when I met all the division chairs. I didn’t do that
the first time I came out. And Mel was the Biology Division chair, and that’s why he knew
about [my wanting] the lab.
LIPPINCOTT: When was that second meeting The first one must have been late in ’96 because I
have the date of your appointment, which was May 13, 1997. So, maybe, this was—
BALTIMORE: I think it may have been in January of ’97 that I came out the first time, and the
second time was probably in March or so.
LIPPINCOTT: Was that second meeting off campus too
BALTIMORE: It was at the Huntington Hotel—what is now the Langham—because I was now
going to meet a lot of the local people. Now, that second meeting may not have been in March,
it may have been later than that. At this point, they were as much interesting me as they were
vetting me. In fact, I think at that point they had said that if I was comfortable with it—and I
can’t remember, but I think it was all my decision at that point.
LIPPINCOTT: And you met all the division chairmen