People & Places

“After you’ve been here for 15 years, any work place should feel like home. But the Whitehead is special, really a comfortable second home. Part of it is that so many of us, scientists and staff, have been here for so long, which makes a feeling of community that I think is very unusual.”

—Whitehead Member Hazel Sive

Ask scientists or staff to describe the Whitehead community and they’re likely to use words such as “family” and “home.” The Institute comprises more than labs and departments working on discrete projects. It contains creative and interesting people—from graduate students to housekeepers—who generally enjoy discussing their ideas and spending time together.

David Baltimore

Whitehead Founding Director and Nobel Laureate David Baltimore had a knack for hiring great people. He initially recruited four faculty members—Gerald Fink, Harvey Lodish, Rudolf Jaenisch and Robert Weinberg—who were already leaders in their fields. But Baltimore could also spot young researchers with potential. For example, he hired a mathematician with no publications in biology as a Whitehead Fellow in 1985. That mathematician—Eric Lander—went on to help coordinate the public effort to sequence the human genome in the 1990s.

By taking risks with hiring and encouraging Whitehead scientists to pursue their most outrageous ideas, Baltimore created a culture of creativity, which remains in place under current Director David C. Page. But Baltimore went a step further. He encouraged the wildly creative researchers to get to know one another as people. In addition to fostering respect, this enabled scientists to fertilize ideas throughout the Institute, develop close friends at work and have fun together.

Lab culture

Whitehead scientists work hard, pursing the answers to important questions with passion. They also know how to have a good time inside and outside the lab.

“They weren’t doing science because they had nothing better to do,” says former Whitehead postdoctoral researcher Willy Lensch. “They were very focused on questions. They wanted to get those answers, but in a way that was so collegial.”

Faculty members encourage their graduate students, postdocs and technicians to spend time together, and many of them organize lab events ranging from dinners to ski trips, which facilitate informal interactions. For example, Founding Members Robert Weinberg and Harvey Lodish arrange hikes that generate lots of stories. Such experiences help Whitehead researchers relax and feel comfortable around their colleagues, creating the ideal atmosphere for uninhibited discussions of scientific ideas.

In addition to benefiting from a rich intellectual community, Whitehead scientists and staff gain life-long friends. Faculty members have impressive stories from their vacations together, and weddings sometimes serve as mini-Whitehead reunions. A number of people even met their spouses at Nine Cambridge Center.