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(Continued)
 Robin
Goldsmith, vice president of communications
Fortunately, someone from TSRI's security department
woke me before 6 AM. After the initial sense of excitement
and delight, I rushed into the office, knowing that
there would be a great deal of work to do, materials
to prepare, media inquiries to respond to, etc. When
I arrived, there were some 15 voice mail messages from
reporters—mainly from the East Coast, but also
from all over the world. We coordinated our efforts
with Dr. Sharpless's office and sent a media advisory
to the local press, announcing a news conference for
11 AM. I must give enormous credit to my staff as well
as to Dr. Sharpless's, especially Laureen Stav. Within
a few short hours, news releases were written, press
kits were assembled, inquiries were responded to, information
was posted on TSRI's web site, efforts were coordinated
and organized. At 11 AM, Dr. Sharpless stepped into
the media glare, and did an absolutely wonderful job
of explaining his work and its significance, as well
as [sharing] his generosity of spirit and excitement
about the discovery process with all those in attendance.
He continued to be exceedingly patient and available
to members of the media and well-wishers throughout
the day.
This was such a wonderful event in the life of the
institute, for which we all owe Dr. Sharpless a huge
debt of gratitude. I think that TSRI staff and employees
took great pride in participating in such a celebratory
and exciting occasion.
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Jeffery Kelly, vice president for academic affairs and
dean of graduate studies
[That Barry Sharpless won the Nobel Prize was] wonderful
and fitting news given the tremendous impact that Barry's
reactions continue to have on academic and industrial
research. [It was] also a great day for the Scripps
community, [TSRI President] Richard Lerner, and our
donors, in that it shows what can be done with creative
leadership coupled with philanthropy and the hard work
of imaginative scientists.
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 Khanh
Nguyen, Human Resources employee representative in charge
of recruiting support services personnel
[Human Resources Manager] Ellen [Anderson] came in
and told us. That day, [Employment Representative] Kelly
Kehoe, [Senior Employment Representative] Linda Kauffmann,
[Employment Assistant] Melanie Brittle, and I were at
a job fair at UCSD [the University of California, San
Diego]. There was a big crowd around us all day. We
had brought three bins of material about TSRI and we
ran out of everything in an hour. We were swamped.
We've been seeing more resumes submitted to us from
people around the world. It's awesome. In fact, I just
received a resume from a former employee here who wrote
in her cover letter that she was reminded of TSRI by
the Nobel Prize. She remembered it was a good place
to work, filled with people of the highest caliber,
and now she's submitting her resume. That is great for
TSRI.
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 K.C.
Nicolaou, chair of the Department of Chemistry
I think I learned of the Nobel Prize announcement before
almost anyone else at Scripps. I was in London and it
was morning there. On Tuesday, the day before the announcement,
I was having dinner with some colleagues, and they asked
me who I thought might be this year's winner. And I
mentioned Sharpless, Noyori, and Knowles. Sure enough,
the next day I called up my sister, who is a manager
in a bank in London, and asked her to look at the web
and call me back. Five minutes later the phone rang
and she started reading to me, "William Knowles, Ryoji
Noyori..." And I said, "Barry Sharpless." And she said
"yes." That was the first time I heard about it. It
was maybe 4 AM Pacific Time. I was ecstatic.
On Tuesday, the day before, I also called up [Administrative
Manager] Vicky [Nielsen] and told her, "In case Barry
wins tomorrow throw a big party." It was so clear in
my mind that he is extremely deserving of the Prize
and it was just a matter of time. The whole department
is very happy for him. This department is only 12 years
old and we have our first Nobel laureate. Who knows,
there may be more...
The revolution of asymmetric synthesis, as we know
it today, owes a lot to Sharpless and the others who
share the Nobel Prize this year. Because of these developments
in asymmetric synthesis, we have chemical processes
by which we can produce compounds in their correct absolute
stereochemistry. This is extremely important for the
drug discovery process and the manufacturing of drugs,
because, often, it is necessary to have only one of
the two enantiomers of the drug since the other may
have either diminished or no activity or may even have
a deleterious effect. The discovery of asymmetric epoxidation
made by Barry Sharpless has truly revolutionized chemical
synthesis as we practice it today.
The Nobel Prize is the ultimate recognition that the
scientific community can bestow on one of its members.
Barry was clearly headed this way and we're delighted
that he was finally honored in this way. We now have
a better place to work and be inspired. I think Scripps
is now recognized, beyond any doubt, as a top research
institution in the world, especially in chemistry. We
are absolutely delighted to share in Barry's joy that
this prize must bring to him and to his family. We are
all proud of him and feel fortunate to be associated
with him as colleagues in the same department.
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 Julius
Rebek, director of The Skaggs Institute for Chemical
Biology
I was in the shower. When I got out of the shower,
I heard the voice mail being left on our recorder from
a common acquaintance, a Professor Pinot Pilotti of
Stockholm University.
So I called Barry right away, and miraculously
I got through. I thought "there is no way"—I thought
I would have to walk over there to see him because I
live very close. I got through, I talked to him, and
I called my parents, since my mother had met Barry on
a couple of occasions and was charmed by him, as you
could imagine. So my mother called him and got right
through.
It has finally happened. We've been hoping for this
for quite awhile; it could have happened any time in
the last ten years. If you read up on the technical
aspects of it, the key Sharpless discovery was made
around 1980, and it influenced research tremendously
in the 1980s and 1990s.
I've had acquaintances—Donald J. Cram, Jean-Marie
Lehn, George A. Olah, Roald Hoffmann—who have won
the Nobel Prize. But to have one of your close friends
win... it makes for a great week. Especially if he is
your colleague. And I don't want to speculate, but I
think this won't be the last time somebody in The Skaggs
Institute wins one.
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