"Fearlessly ask stupid questions" - H. Stewart Parker

I've found a new woman to add to my "awesome women to admire" list.  (When I actually come up with that oficial list, I'll let you know). H. Stewart Parker, the founder and former CEO of Targeted Genetics, recently spoke a bit on "Targeting Biotech Success" in my class on biopharmaceutical product development. The class is awesome mostly because of all the really interesting and successful people from local biotechs etc. that come to lecture on the subject for the week. 

Parker is considered somewhat of a pioneer of the biotech industry since she rocked a start-up (Immunex) when the whole industry was really nothing but start-ups and Genetech (circa 1980). What I really liked about her was her demeanor and her work/life philosophy.  She has this eloquent southern accent which makes you feel like she's both about to sit you down to have a stern "come to Jesus meetin" and offer you some sweet tea and a seat in the shade. 

Some of what she talked about in her lecture revolved around what she called her "Genes for Success."  Some of the more notable genes include: the Unabashed gene, the fearless, the marathon, the fundraising, and fun-raising genes. Besides this being cute and clever, it was SO refreshing to see a) a successful women who really worked her way up from entry level to CEO in the industry and b) someone in that position of power who also values (and finds vital) personal sanity, emotion, and passion to their success in life. (Plus, "the marathon gene" is kind of essential in most aspects of life, especially in the endurance challenge that is grad school)

Besides advocating for asking 'stupid' questions, she adds that being "unabashedly optimistic, naive, and emotional" is essential to learning everything you need to know in order to move forward on a given task, and are all attributes she includes in her personal success story.

Why does this make me feel like danzig, you ask? Because, in my opinion, the culture of academia and a lot of Science/Industry/most jobs in general is one that does not look kindly on those who ask 'stupid' questions, lest you be admitting some sort of doubt in your work or intelligence (nevermind the fact that asking said questions usually leads to progress when searching for or understanding the answers). Because including emotion in your work is apparently one big "no-no," since letting yourself be affected by criticism about something you pour all your efforts into on a daily basis is somehow seen as weak or inappropriate.

It's just really nice to see someone who manages to balance those things. I'm getting better at thickening my skin (somewhat) and taking criticism in stride, but doing so while trying to maintain my inquisitive and often outspoken sense of self is not always easy. The degree to which one must keep an air of certainty at all times here in academia is really difficult for me to comprehend. To know that maybe it's not neccessary to do that ALL the time is reassuring.  Hats off to you, Stewart Parker.

"Caps for Sale: A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys and Their Monkey Business is a 1938 classic children's book by Esphyr Slobodkina. It's a sly take on the saying, 'Monkey see, monkey do.'" -Wikipedia
 "And is awesome."- MadLabRat