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Inspiration takes root UCLA prof credits a caring mentor By Kelee Garrison Riesbeck UCLA Professor Robert Goldberg has a way of getting his students enthused about plant genetics, encouraging them to get to know one another, exchange ideas and debate the science behind their studies. Even the most reticent class members eventually jump into the dialogue. Looking back nearly 40 years, Goldberg remembers being similarly inspired as an Ohio University undergraduate. At the head of his class was now-Professor Emeritus of Environmental and Plant Biology Norm Cohn. In fact, when Goldberg took Cohn and his wife, Margaret, on a recent tour of his UCLA laboratory, he introduced Cohn to his students as ³my Bob Goldberg.² "There were three things that started me in this business," says Goldberg, BS '66, a faculty member in molecular, cell and developmental biology at UCLA since 1976. "One, the excitement of the field, which was just emerging. Two, the intellectual challenge science held for me. And three, I had Norm Cohn as a role model. He had a huge impact on me in very subtle ways." Cohn's inspiring teaching style took root in Goldberg, who earlier this year was elected to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences for his innovative research on gene expression during plant development. Membership in the NAS is one of the highest honors that can be accorded an American scientist or engineer. "Norm Cohn was a very dynamic and very stimulating mentor," Goldberg says. "But more than anything, he was demanding and had us engaged in critical thinking. He wanted us to do good science and be excited about science." Cohn, who was a young professor when Goldberg walked into his class in 1962, is flattered by the credit his former student gives him. "The goal for teachers is to produce students who are better than you are," says Cohn, who retired in 1995 and continues to live in Athens. "Bob stood out as a dedicated student who was motivated by genetics. He performed exceptionally well in my lab. His scientific illustrations were better than anything you've ever seen. He was a highly focused student with a good sense of humor. I knew he was going to be successful." Kelee Garrison Riesbeck, BSJ '91, is a freelance writer living in Athens.