Shapiro, Lucy
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Lucy Shapiro, a renowned developmental biologist, begins her oral history interview by discussing her childhood in New York City, her early educational focus on the arts, and the importance of her family life and Jewish heritage in shaping her character. She explains her transition to scientific research after graduating from Brooklyn College, attributing much of the credit to her mentor, Ted Shedlovsky. Shapiro details her time as a lab technician and a graduate student and describes her rise in the field, from her graduate school discovery of what viruses in double-stranded RNA look like to how she came to research the Caulobacter bacterium, the defining research of her career. Throughout the interview, Shapiro discusses the importance of science and how vital it is to encourage young people to pursue science. She believes both science and the humanities are valuable and beautiful, and she explains how her two passions--biology and painting--inform each other. Shapiro discusses the role of family in her life extensively, explaining how she has balanced her working life and her family life throughout her career. She also discusses the importance of mentors and how she incorporates the lessons she has learned from those who guided her into her own mentoring. Shapiro, the first woman to chair a department in the Stanford University School of Medicine, comments on how her identity as a woman has affected her work. She recalls some previous sexist incidents, but she concludes that the confidence she has in her work and herself, along with the strategies she has developed to command respect, have caused gender to have very little effect on her ability to achieve success. Shapiro discusses leaving Columbia University for Stanford University in 1989 when she was invited to establish the Department of Developmental Biology. She explains what she believes sets Stanford apart from and above other peer institutions, particularly its non-hierarchical atmosphere of communication and collaboration. She describes the research she and Harley McAdams completed together and her passion for interdisciplinary scientific research, as exemplified by the establishment of Stanford Bio-X. Shapiro discusses the development of her career since arriving at Stanford, including improving her ability to speak to non-scientific audiences in a comprehensible manner. She explains how this has served her in meetings with high-ranking political figures, including Bill Clinton and George Shultz. She also discusses advising pharmaceutical companies, becoming the director of the Beckman Center, and winning the Canada Gairdner International Award and the National Medal of Science. In conclusion, Shapiro reflects on how her personal background has influenced her professional accomplishments and explains why she is passionate about science.
Description
Type of resource | mixed material |
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Date created | May 12, 2016 - May 13, 2016 |
Creators/Contributors
Author | Shapiro, Lucy | |
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Contributing author | Rodriguez, Michela | |
Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
Subjects
Subject | Lucy Shapiro |
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Subject | Stanford Historical Society |
Subject | oral histories |
Subject | interviews |
Subject | higher education |
Subject | professors |
Subject | pioneering women |
Subject | women in science |
Subject | developmental biology |
Subject | Stanford University School of Medicine > Department of Developmental Biology |
Subject | Stanford University > Beckman Center for Molecular and Genetic Medicine |
Bibliographic information
Related item |
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Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/jm753pp3172 |
Access conditions
- Use and reproduction
- The materials are open for research use and may be used freely for non-commercial purposes with an attribution. For commercial permission requests, please contact the Stanford University Archives (universityarchives@stanford.edu).
- Copyright
- Copyright © The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved.
Preferred citation
- Preferred Citation
Shapiro, Lucy. (2016). Oral
History. Stanford Historical Society Oral History Program Interviews (SC0932). Department of
Special Collections & University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford,
Calif. Available at: https://purl.stanford.edu/jm753pp3172
Collection
Stanford Historical Society Oral History Program interviews, 1999-2022
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- Contact
- archivesref@stanford.edu
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