Special Issue Preface pubs.acs.org/JPCB
William M. Gelbart: An Appreciation learned that his competitor was once a member of the East German women’s Olympic basketball team. A major regret is that he is unable to dunk a basketball. This spirit carries over into his science. Despite having last taken a formal course in biology in high school, one taught by a coach, he plunged enthusiastically into research in virology. In many ways Bill’s research has a style that, unashamedly, hearkens to the past. He much prefers order-of-magnitude estimates and dimensional arguments to precision computerbased analyses−although he benefits from his students’ computer expertise. If he were asked to describe the ideal theoretical publication he is likely to cite the three-page paper (Nature 1956, 177, 473−5) in which Crick and Watson, without resorting to any equations, showed that the dominant viral structures would be icosahedral or cylindrical. It is a tradition in his group meetings that with few exceptions, usually for visitors, chalk talks prevail and Powerpoint is banned. He does allow simple demonstrations such as the models that demonstrate the geometry of viral assemblies that fill his office. Many of us have grown accustomed to seeing him pull off his belt and then twist it to make some point about the conformation of DNA or RNA. With few exceptions, Bill’s publications are the result of collaborations, with students and postdocs but also with other senior scientists. His view is that, unlike other scholarly pursuits, such as studies in the humanities, where solitary work is the norm, one of the joys in the pursuit of science is its collaborative nature. At its best, academic research is closely involved with teaching, and Bill is a master teacher, elegant in formal lectures and in the classroom and superb in informal expositions at the blackboard to small groups of students, often only one. Bill’s expertise is not limited to science; he has made a science of coffee, whether making it at home with his commercial-class espresso machine or seeking it out in coffee shops around the world. If you want to know the best spots for drinking coffee in, say, Paris, London, or Jerusalem, ask Bill for his recommendation. He is an aficionado of food, again whether he prepares it at home for his guests or enjoys it at the Italian restaurants he seeks out in Los Angeles. He is also a classical music lover, whether he plays the cello part of a chamber music piece (slow movements ONLYthey are by far the most worthwhile, in his opinion) or blasts a recording for the enjoyment of his neighbors after hours at work or at home. Bill likes to play. He enjoys the game of learning, whether from reading history or biographies, or in games of touch football with students decades younger than he is. He dotes on kids, and they dote on him, not just his grandchildren but those of his colleagues. He will enthusiastically and infinitely patiently play, race, lift, and read to them. Although he has won many awards and received many recognitions, he is not obsessed with symbols of success. But he
Penny Jennings, Photographer
T
he very broad scope of the papers in this Festschrift attests to the wide range of research areas that Bill Gelbart has pursued over his 40-year research career and the influential contributions that he made to each of them. As noted in the accompanying Biography, Bill has followed a path that has taken him from theoretical studies of radiationless transitions in gas-phase molecular spectroscopy, to light scattering in fluids, and the statistical mechanics and bulk properties of soft matter systems: simple fluids, liquid crystals, membranes, and micelles. When he began to examine the physical properties of DNA the path took a turn toward biophysics that almost seamlessly led to studies of DNA packaging in and ejection from bacteriophages. This work began as theory but resulted in a switch to biomolecular experimentation. In this process he has evolved from a physical chemist with an interest in virology to a physical virologist with a background in physical chemistry. In his most recent work, in which he has focused on developing RNA replicons for gene delivery, he has moved still closer to biology; Bill is now even a “card carrying” member of the UCLA Institute for Molecular Biology. Although Bill has never been caught up in a race to beat a competitor into printone might say that he chose his problems in fields where such a concern for priority is not a major issuehe is nonetheless highly competitive. He has been known to challenge new acquaintances to arm wrestling, stairjumping competitions, or races, undaunted even when he © 2016 American Chemical Society
Special Issue: William M. Gelbart Festschrift Published: July 7, 2016 5787
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.6b03856 J. Phys. Chem. B 2016, 120, 5787−5788
The Journal of Physical Chemistry B
Special Issue Preface
is proud of the accomplishments of his wife Nina, who is a distinguished historian, his son Matthew, a professor of musicology, and his daughter Eva, a talented artist whose work can be seen on the cover of this issue. Above all, however, Bill is an expert at happiness. As with any pursuit, happiness requires work, and Bill practices constantly, exploiting every opportunity for happiness to the full. This enriches his own life and, not coincidentally, the lives of all of those who are fortunate enough to be around him.
Avinoam Ben-Shaul Charles M. Knobler Andrea J. Liu
5788
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.6b03856 J. Phys. Chem. B 2016, 120, 5787−5788
