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We ask our faculty members to make sense of what we need to know, understand, and reflect upon. They agree to share insights and observations about their respective fields or special interests. Field Notes serves as a window to different worlds where we all belong.

FIELD NOTES

A LIFE OF EXCELLENCE AND HONOR

Acceptance Address of DR. RICHARD FRED HECK, 2010 Nobel Prize Laureate for Chemistry, on the occasion of his conferment of the DOCTOR OF SCIENCE DEGREE, HONORIS CAUSA, by De La Salle University during its 163rd Commencement Exercises on February 4, 2012 at the Philippine International Convention Center
Brother Narciso Erguiza, Jr FSC, President and Chancellor; Dr. Myrna Austria, Vice Chancellor for Academics; DLSU administrators and staff; members of the faculty; parents; fellow graduates; distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, MAGANDANG UMAGA SA INYONG LAHAT. With a deep sense of humility and honor, I accept your conferment on me of the Doctor of Science degree, honoris causa, while I remain in constant awe at the thought that an American foreigner like me should be so recognized by an esteemed university in this part of Asia that has demonstrated remarkable evidence in pursuing excellence in scientific research as well as in social and human development. But I may not strictly be a foreigner to the Philippines as I find my bearing in this country, with a high sense of pride, so much so that after my retirement from the University of Delaware where I sat on its faculty until 1989, I relished the prospect of relocating permanently in the Philippines. For all you know, I married a Filipina, a woman I so dearly loved, she of great passion and values of a true-blooded Filipina she was a treasure to my life more than any accolade I have ever had in my lifetime. This woman whom I passionately cherished had just recently departed me, on to her sojourn to the great beyond. So then I beg your indulgence if, even at this very moment, you may sense a semblance of solitude in my countenance. While we were not as much blessed with a child, my wife was simply the embodiment of everything I loved about the Filipino. Her passing has, truly, left me a chasm I guess only time can fill. I wondered if my avowed fealty to this land might have something to do with my receiving this awesome honor. Yet your citation of me declares that you recognize my path-breaking research efforts and [my] transformational influence on pharmaceutical development, electronics manufacture, innovative energy technologies, DNA sequencing, and disease research, among others. What an inclusive, humbling citation. I have had a string of international recognition for my various works in the field of academe, but this one evokes a very special meaning to me. I never imagined that even in my twilight years, the country I adopted to be my own would care to recognize whatever I may have contributed to the human society through the natural sciences.

My origin was modest and quite far from affluence. My parents were common workers in the United States and lacked a fairly competent education. My father worked as a salesman in a department store. My mother was a housewife. We lived in the suburb in Massachusetts, that at my early age, my father had to move us to a brand-new yet tiny abode on a barren lot in California. It was there that my curiosity about science, particularly chemistry, began to unfold. There we had an empty yard where I got to select and install the plants. I got concerned with fertilizers and sprays; and I realized I needed to know more about the nutrients and pigments in plants. That got me into chemistry, and I followed it through to high school and university at UCLA where I did my PhD in Chemistry and in Switzerland for my postdoctoral research. I had never thought that that simple work of planting an empty yard would bloom and peak into an achievement of the noblest honor in the world of science. The Nobel Prize for Chemistry, which I shared with two fellow scientists Ei-ichi Negishi and Akira Suzuki, cited my works in palladiumcatalyzed cross couplings in organic synthesis which made possible more efficient ways of linking carbon atoms together to build the complex molecules. The Nobel Committee in Sweden recognized the impact of palladium couplings in pharmaceutical manufacturing particularly in synthesizing molecules, which incidentally paved the way for significant advancements in human health and medicine, and in electronics and energy research. The chemical process now known as Heck Reaction revolutionized the manufacture and discovery of drugs, for treating arthritis, cancer, HIV, and painkiller treatments, as well as for DNA sequencing which is essential for disease research and forensics, specifically for the Human genome Project. The award also recognized my discovery as responsible for modification of sunscreens and sun-

protective cosmetics relying on Heck Reaction for the production of octyl methoxycinnamate, a compound that absorbs the suns ultraviolet rays and is used to reduce the appearance of scars. I pondered seriously on what I could possibly share to the De La Salle community and to this graduating class, apart from what my professional travails in the arena of scientific research may have to impart. Does being a Nobel Laureate necessarily make me the epitome of an accomplished scholar whose examples young La Sallians should emulate? I am afraid this view might come off to you as rather full of air and conceit. So I asked myself further: What is it about me that should make me worthy to receive this honorary doctorate, and even more worthy to speak to this bunch of richly potential young minds? I should like to lift liberally from your universitys statement of vision, which in part says: [T]he university harmonizes faith and life with contemporary knowledge to nurture a community of distinguished and morally upright scholars who generate and propagate new knowledge for human development and social transformation [T]he institution endeavors to form Lasallian Achievers for God and Country who will lead in building a just, peaceful, stable and progressive Filipino nation. So resonant a vision which precisely encapsulates what any scholar or individual equipped with a competitive package of education should aspire for. As scholars, those who cultivate a terrain in the sciences or in any other fields of interest, are not bereft of virtues, or divorced from their duty to God and nation. The essence of being a university, to my mind, is exactly to produce a human power that is imbued with both faith and values, savored with substantial knowledge capable of carving a powerful impact that can transform a community and sustain a

livable human habitat. The essence of being a scholar is not only to acquire knowledge and discover new skills to empower oneself, but also to be beholden to duty of, as your university vision says, building a just, peaceful, stable, and progressive nation. In my thinking, this is the ethos of postmodern education, the fundamental and distinctive character of learning. Your citation of me further writes of my having been able to make a transformational influence in the world of science as well as in the industrial technology sectors. I should like to think that this transformational influence does not only find its way in the peripheries of scientific communities and technological industries that have, ostensibly, benefited from my research breakthroughs, but that it also extendsmore importantlyto the world societyat-large, where one imagines that it is completely possible for someone with modest beginnings to accomplish and contribute as much to the lasting progress and meaningful development of ones nation and the world. When I was a neophyte researcher and barely exploring my passion in the chemical sciences, I was devoid of any idea of what was to become of my efforts. The future of my efforts was somewhat hazy as it did not occur to me that what I was doing was going to be anything special. Yet I paddled on and on, unceasingly and relentlessly. For such is a distinct trait of a scientist, indefatigable and undaunted to see himself through his never-ending research journey, until something of empirical value is attained. Until the year 2010 came when the reality of having the worlds highest science honor dawned on me. When I was asked by one of your staff on a prelude interview to this conferment, if I considered having clinched the Nobel Prize my biggest achievement, nonchalantly I replied that my biggest excitement happened the time I earned my PhD. I felt then I was

already a full-fledged scholar, ready to take on anything. Admittedly, the prestige and fame of a Nobel were irresistible, and, somehow tempting for self-glorification. But then I find my meaning as a scientist in what I have been able to make of my country, in what I have been able to contribute to significantly better the lives of peoples across cultures and societies. I find my meaning in what I can bequeath to this world when the glory and splendor of a celebrated achievement begin to wane, when I will have to finally desert this earthly habitat and remit myself to the Creator. By and large, I am a by-product of everything around me. Academically, I am a sculpture of the University of California at Los Angeles, yet I am the output of the University of Delaware that hammered my professional career in the sciences. A universitys honor is gauged, one way or another, by what becomes of its graduates. Your universitys mission enunciates as much: In an academic environment permeated by excellence and scholarship, the institution will train leaders, competent professionals, scholars, researchers, and entrepreneurs, who will participate actively in improving the quality of life in Philippine society. Leadership, competence, and scholarship are values attained through continuous pursuit even outside of the borders of the university. They are honed by solid experience and painstaking labor, and a stubborn attitude to learn, dig, inquire, and probe. Yet they are values that must be soaked in pure character, the totality of personal qualities that make someone a distinct species from the rest. Knowledge, skills, or competence can secure ones future. But surely, it is ones character that can determine the security of ones future.

To the graduates, being educated in one of the countrys best universities presupposes that you got the edge, not to mention resources to tough it out in the open world. Whichever path you take, do your job in the most excellent manner. But as you do, keep your honor intactnever allow your integrity to be tarnished. For, honor is not, in the strictest sense, derived from achievements or accolades bestowed upon you. Honor exudes from inside, from the beauty of life that you choose to live, a life you keep to be honorable and unblemished to the very end, by your conduct, by your disposition, by your leadership, and by your involvement in the building of your nation. It behooves a genuine scholar to be both honorable and excellent. A Nobel Prizeor any award for that matteris simply but a resounding affirmation that you lived up to honor and excellence. Benjamin Franklin once said that success is one percent inspiration, and 99 percent perspiration. Perhaps he was just trying to advance the wisdom of hard work. This early, you have the power to determine the trajectory of your future career. But when you already have established your life, be grateful. Come back and help build your country, and build it assiduously and firmly so that it can finally reach its rightful destination in the global community. By then you will be able to live up to your schools vision of participating actively in improving the quality of life in Philippine society. The trademark of a Lasallian. Honor spawns humility, and humility, gratitude. To the De La Salle University: Thank you very much, for believing that I deserve this recognition. I should like

to take this honor as a testament that what I have done truly has a global meaning and impact. Please receive my sincerest gratitude. I gathered that you aspire to be an internationalized university status. Your journey may not take any longer. You have a competent pool of manpower, a team of scholars who have been making a name and achieving much in research both domestically and internationally. Who knows, soon the next Nobel Laureate will be a Filipino from among these graduates and your own people? Never tire in doing research. Publish, disseminate, and transfer your knowledge to the outside world so that you get noticed. Invade the international frontiers of scholarly exchanges, and design your scientific inquiries to contribute to the development of humanity. To everyone, if my own life should be any lesson, it is that I discovered that the seemingly impossible could actually be attainable, that the daunting was no less doable, that an ordinary boy from that unknown part of Massachusetts could well make his science change a whole lot everyones life. If I should draw any other meaning from the conferment on me of this doctorate degree, it is that it affirms, yet again, that I did my job, and lived my life, with honor. As the Good Book reassures: A good reputation is better than silver and gold. Fellow graduates, whether you excel in science, in business, in industry, or in academe, do so in a manner of the Lasallian values, and make your God and country perpetually proud of you. I, too, am now a proud Lasallian! MARAMING SALAMAT at Mabuhay!

DR. RICHARD FRED HECK recently met with the faculty members of the DLSU Chemistry Department, through the efforts of Dr. Alvin Culaba, Executive Vice President for External Relations and Internationalization, during which he presented a Nobel Laureate poster to the University. He is now retired and currently residing in the Philippines.