“Look up at the building and observe the windows,” College of Science and Mathematics Dean Jerry Stinner urged biology alumni, community members and other celebrants at the mid-April grand opening. The window placement, he explained, represents a kind of scientific/architectural “in joke”: their meticulous arrangement represents a DNA fingerprinting pattern on an electrophoresis gel.
In the heart of French Polynesia, a motor boat glides across a crystal lagoon, stopping at the bay’s perimeter. As the vessel rocks gently in the subsiding wake, a handful of university scientists gear up for a dive into the shallow depths. The less experienced students among them, dazzled by the treasure below, wrestle on their scuba equipment, eager to explore the ridge of colorful marine life that stretches like a jeweled necklace around the mountain island of Moorea.
Damaged hearts regenerate. Paralyzed children run again. The blind regain vision, and cancer is eradicated.
The Cal State Northridge biologist has shepherded nearly 50 CSUN students through MARC, the National Institutes of Health-funded program designed to give minority students the mentoring and research experience needed to compete in the sciences at the graduate level. The overwhelming majority have entered advanced degree programs.
Trust us. Webb is not normal. Since graduating from Cal State Northridge in 1970, he has taken a path few others have even attempted, and he’s done it 12 times in a row, more than any save two, and at a season in life when a slower pace seems a not unreasonable expectation.
Federal grant monies awarded to CSUN to improve the education of teachers who work with students with disabilities.
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