Paul
Nurse was at Harrow County from 1960 to 1966. In October 2001 he was
awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine. Paul is remembered by Gaytonians for
his scientific research from an early age. Click here
for a pdf file which includes an article written for the school scientific
magazine, Enquiry, in 1968, and an earlier article written for the school
magazine, Gaytonian in 1965. He was a member of the stage staff for the
school play "A Man for All Seasons" in 1966.
Paul Nurse was Director of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, and is currently Director of Cancer Research UK. In November 2003 he will be taking up a new position as President of Rockefeller University in New York.
Paul Nurse in Advanced VIth Science A, 1965
Link to Nobel Foundation website
The following appeared in a diary column in the
Sunday Times (January 25):-
Atticus: Nobel man
takes flight from a new science deal to land of the free
Just days after ministers announce a revolution for higher education, one of our most eminent scientists delivers his verdict: by packing his Bunsen burner for America. Sir Paul Nurse, who shared the Nobel prize for discovering the gene that regulates cell division, says he will have more time for his world-beating research as president of the Rockefeller University in New York: less a brain drain, more a brain disaster, especially as the congenial Sir Paul was in charge of Britain’s fight against cancer.
As well as a hefty increase to his £140,000 a year, he will enjoy more research resources. He leaves Cancer Research UK after less than a year for a uni that wallows in an annual budget of £150m. “The move is personal,” he says. “There are limited places someone like me can go, and I will have more time.”
CRUK could not conceal its sadness. His work on cell division, crucial to the growth of cancerous tumours, was at a critical stage in his London lab. It hopes the motorbike nut will oversee the work until a new leader is found, but nobody of his stature has yet emerged. Bad news, this, for Charles Clarke and co, who used to enjoy attacking Tories for the brain drain.
(the extract above sent in by Colin Dickins)
(the pdf file above contributed by Chris McManus)