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美国 California大学Berkeley分校化学学院2005届毕业典礼讲话
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Today we're celebrating your graduation from the College of chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. Before us are newly minted chemists and chemical engineers. The departments of chemistry and chemical engineering are among the best if not the best in the entire world. So it is understandable, that we at this event have great expectations for you. It goes without saying that you all have the tools and the capabilities to lead the Next Generation into the future. What is that future going to look like? What expectations for us are in the minds of citizens in our country and our community. During the decade and a half in which I led the laboratory up on the hill, I came to the realization that managing community expectations is an extraordinarily important ingredient in advancing the cause of science and technology. Great science will not achieve its promise without the support of our society. Today's question is, what is your responsibility for communicating the value and the relevance of your profession and work to society. I am sure I don't need to tell you that chemistry rings the alarm bells of concerned citizens. The car I rented yesterday had a warning label with small print. Did the label tell me to buckle my seatbelt or drive safely?--no, it merely warned me that chemicals in the car might cause cancer. We now find that foods like potatoes and breads which have been eaten for centuries naturally contain acrylamides, thought to be a carcinogen arising from industrial processes. The list of foods raising concern is impressive including crusty bread, taco shells, English muffins and French fries. Virtually everything we bring into our houses today carries a warning label about chemicals that will cause cancer or birth defects. Of course, there are well-placed fears that must be addressed, but who among us has the credibility to communicate effectively with the public about these issues? My mother told me to eat potatoe skins because that was where the vitamins were, now we say don’t eat potato skins because that is where acrylamides reside. Both of these statements are probably correct. The question is how do we communicate the concept of relative risk? We are confusing and scaring people about chemicals in the food supply. I feel compelled to tell you a story which illustrates some of the challenges that lie ahead. One recent afternoon a proud African-American woman and her daughter were walking in downtown Oakland. To their delight they encountered the friendly and gregarious mayor of the city of Oakland, Jerry Brown. The mother related to the mayor that her daughter was home from UCLA where she was a student. The mayor asked the daughter, “what is your major?” To that the daughter replied that she was majoring in chemistry and would soon graduate. The mayor, who was formerly the Governor and a candidate for the President of the United States, exclaimed “what a bad idea, chemistry does such awful things to the environment.” To that the daughter retorted, “knowledge of chemistry is going to help us be good stewards of the environment.” To that the mayor replied, “we will just have to agree to disagree.” What I find disturbing about stories like these is that they tell us that our leaders and a disturbingly large part of our society have a negative impression of chemistry. Yet chemistry is at the core of everything that we touch and experience in our lives. The breadth of the impact of chemistry and chemical engineering is enormous. From the life-sciences and medical sciences to the clothes we wear, the electronics industry, energy production, the impact of chemistry is ubiquitous. So how is it that we have gotten to this point. Some might simply say Love Canal and may be the entire state of New Jersey. Yes, there have been problems and some people, through a combination of ignorance and lack of integrity, have created a legacy that we will have to work through. So today is my opportunity to provide advice to you, the Next Generation. • Expect and demand the highest level of integrity for any professional activity in which you participate. • Recognize that for your chosen profession to prosper, you'll have to go beyond the technical work that is our passion. You will have to participate fully in our society and communicate your point of view to your community. • Use your knowledge of chemistry to solve the endless list of problems that plague our society. The National Academy of Sciences invited Tom Kean, the former governor of New Jersey and chair of the 9/11 commission to speak at one of its meetings. I was quite impressed with what Tom Kean had to say. He pointed out that scientists and engineers were virtually absent in Congress and the leadership of our country. If you look at Congress, there are only a handful of chemists, physicists, or engineers. Our country is missing technical understanding in its leadership. I have great expectations that your generation will remedy this. Governor Kean made a recommendation to us that I'm passing on to you. Things will not change until you scientists begin to attend more town meetings. in addition to the scientific meetings that drive your passion. I cannot let this moment pass without telling you how excited I am about the future that chemistry is enabling. Here are a few things from the perspective of the year 2005 that will shape our future. • Nanoscience, the science of making things from an atom at a time, we are going to make materials and devices that were only the subjects of dreams in the past • Synthetic biology, creating life forms to efficiently synthesize chemical compounds, an example right here in Berkeley is the work of Prof. Jay Keasling who is developing a lowcost synthesis procedure for compound to cure malaria • Bioimaging, the science of developing procedures to directly image biological processes such as those that occur in the brain • Acceleration of the convergence of the lifesciences, chemistry, physics, engineering as we have witnessed with the Human Genome Project. • Efficiently convert solar energy to readily usable chemical energy and reduce greenhouse gases that are warming the earth. So as I summarize my thoughts on this occasion I would like to congratulate all of you for the hard work we are celebrating today. My great expectation is that you will pursue your career goals with great enthusiasm, displaying the wisdom to embrace your community, while pursuing new knowledge with the highest standards of ethics and integrity. [ Last edited by cat2123 on 2006-4-24 at 14:53 ] |
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