Susan K. McConnell
The information listed below is current as of the date the transcript was finalized.
Interview Details
Interview Sessions
Abstract of Interview
Susan McConnell grew up in Crown Point, Indiana, the oldest of four children. Her father was a metallurgical engineer and her mother a nurse. Both were college graduates, as are McConnell’s three siblings. McConnell has always loved animals and interested in animal behavior; she initially wanted to become a horse trainer.
McConnell was a biology major at Harvard University, specializing in animal behavior. She found summer work at the Wisconsin Primate Center, but still questioned the mechanisms of behavior and began thinking in terms of cells. After graduation she worked for Howard Gardner at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Reading and thinking about biological constraints on human potential, rather an amorphous concept, helped her define what she wanted to do. She was more interested than ever in cells, especially the neuron, and found that year off critical for formulating her work. McConnell entered Simon LeVay’s lab at Harvard, working in the visual system in mammals and moving with the lab to the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. LeVay’s style allowed her opportunities to try a number of unusual experiments, some of which turned out very well, resulting in a number of publications from her graduate work. For postdoctoral work, McConnell went to Carla Shatz’s lab at Stanford University, funded by the National Eye Institute. She had a wonderful time there and finally discovered the excitement science is supposed to generate. She explains how her work differs from Shatz’s though they have similar training and interests.
McConnell accepted a Professorship at Stanford, which she loves. Her graduate school work forms the basis for her current work. She is now funded by the Pew Scholars award, a Searle Scholarship, and money from the National Eye Institute, in addition to an appointment as a Clare Booth Luce Professor. Her lab is small and composed entirely of women, though not by design. McConnell feels a need to critique her work; she wants to develop her field and to do “elegant” science, and she spends very long hours in the lab to do so.
Education
Year | Institution | Degree | Discipline |
---|---|---|---|
1980 | Harvard University | AB | Biology |
1987 | Harvard University | PhD | Neurobiology |
Professional Experience
Harvard University
Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Stanford University School of Medicine
Stanford University
Honors
Year(s) | Award |
---|---|
1976 to 1980 | National Merit Scholar |
1979 | Joseph Garrison Parker Prize, Harvard University |
1979 | Phi Beta Kappa |
1981 to 1984 | National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship |
1987 to 1989 | National Research Service Award (Eye Institute) |
1989 | Winter Conference on Brain Research Fellowship |
1989 to 1993 | Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences Award |
Table of Contents
Grows up in Crown Point, Indiana, oldest of four children. Father metallurgical engineer, mother nurse; both college-educated. Siblings’ education. Religion. Love of animals and interest in animal behavior.
Harvard University, biology major, animal behavior area. Summer research at Wisconsin Primate Center. Paying for college. Howard Gardner and Harvard Graduate School of Education. Biological constraints on human potential. Growing interest in the cell, especially the neuron; influences on cell that combine to create normal pathway. Critical year for formulating work.
LeVay’s lab at Harvard, working in visual system in mammals. LeVay’s mentoring style. Move to Salk Institute for Biological Studies. Culture shock. Exciting fields while in San Diego. Publications from graduate work.
Career decisions. Tries postdoc for a year. LeVay’s lab working with adult nervous system. Move to Carla Shatz’s lab at Stanford University. Positive reinforcement, excitement about science in Shatz’s lab. Funding from National Eye Institute.
Rejects offer of Howard Hughes Medical Institute position at Yale University. Charles Stevens. Accepts assistant professorship at Stanford. Startup package. Various types of funding. Long hours, most at bench. Size and composition of lab. Personal life. Hopes to develop her field. Reevaluating work.
About the Interviewer
Arnold Thackray founded the Chemical Heritage Foundation and served the organization as president for 25 years. He is currently CHF’s chancellor. Thackray received MA and PhD degrees in history of science from Cambridge University. He has held appointments at Cambridge, Oxford University, and Harvard University, the Institute for Advanced Study, the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
In 1983 Thackray received the Dexter Award from the American Chemical Society for outstanding contributions to the history of chemistry. He served for more than a quarter century on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was the founding chairman of the Department of History and Sociology of Science and is currently the Joseph Priestley Professor Emeritus.