In academic circles, there is a known passage that a lot of people follow, but at which few truly excel. There are but a comparative handful of truly great minds in every generation, and these are the people that make the world a better place. These are the discoverers of grand theories or major paradigms, never seen before technology, and life-saving medicine. Dr. Joseph Schlessinger is one such great mind.
During his academic career, he has achieved more than a dozen other scientists put together. Like most of the world’s leading scientists, he had an impressive start, first receiving his Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and Physics in 1968 from Hebrew University in Jerusalem, followed by a Masters in Chemistry in 1970 from the same place. The young Schlessinger coasted without effort through those early years of academia, graduating magna cum laude both times.
Staying firmly dedicated to his goal, he was immediately accepted to the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, where he received his Ph.D. in 1974, after submitting his successful thesis work on “Study of Chemical and Biological Systems by Circular Polarization of Fluorescence.” As a postdoc fellow between 1974 and 1976, he began his research in earnest at Cornell’s Department of Chemistry and Applied Physics.
After a successful postdoc experience at Cornell, he spent the next several years at progressively more important pursuits, including a position at the National Institutes of Health, followed by a long tenure at the Weizmann Institute that culminated in his appointment as full professor in the Department of Chemical Immunology.
More articles to come…