Oral History Interview: Robert Auerbach (1076) - (:unkn) unknown (My University, 2009)
In his three February 2010 interviews with Bob Lange, Robert Auerbach details his personal history, training in zoology, and involvement with the University of Wisconsin-Madison from the 1950s to the 2000s. He recounts how his family escaped Nazi Germany in the 1940s and immigrated eventually to the US. From here, he describes key influences in developing his interest and expertise in music and mouse genetics, eventually training with the high-profile genetics department at Columbia. He then discusses the main lines of his research in trypsinization of the kidney, embryonic thymus genetics, and immunology, which eventually led him to UW, where he taught among other things developmental biology. Throughout, Auerbach offers his reflections on such key figures and issues as music and science, T. Dobzhansky, research and publication, the tenure process, university service, teaching philosophy, the functioning of a lab, and the division between researchers and teachers in the zoology department. This interview was conducted for inclusion into the UW-Madison Oral History Program.
Keywords: Zoology; Charles River Company; University Committee; Rockefeller Foundation; Judah Folkman; American Cancer Society; Jim Crow; Developmental Biology; Lee Russell; NIH; Clifford Grobstein; Oak Ridge National Laboratories; NSF; National Science Foundation; Salome Gluecksohn-Welsh; Leslie Dunn; Columbia University; Berea College; High School of Music and Art; World War I; World War II