Harvard's Nobel Drought Hits Four Years

Despite its proud claim to the most faculty Nobels in the United States, Harvard has gone four years without winning the coveted award, the longest drought since 1954-61.

Since 1914, Harvard faculty have won a total of 33 Nobel Prizes. The greatest number was in the field of medicine or physiology, followed by physics, chemistry, economics and even one in peace. The University has never won a Nobel in literature.

The last Harvard faculty Nobels were both in 1990: Emery Professor of Organic Chemistry Elias J. Corey in chemistry and Harvard Medical School Professor Joseph E. Murray in medicine or physiology.

"It's very difficult to predict those prizes," Corey says. "There are thousands of very good people working in science all over the world."

Many faculty members say the pride of Harvard scholars shouldn't be too hurt by the recent lack of prizes.

"Certainly, I have not heard anyone moaning about how long it has been since a Nobel Prize," says George Brandenburg, director of the High Energy Physics Laboratory. "Anybody who is worried about it is crazy."

Professors say Harvard's faculty includes many future winners.

"There are quite a few people at Harvard who have done work worthy of the prize," says Baird Professor of Science Dudley R. Herschbach, who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1986. "When they might receive it, no one can say. But what's important is that they're here."

In fact, maybe only at Harvard would a four-year period without a Nobel be called a "drought," Herschbach says.

"To put things into perspective, there are many nations in the world where not a single Nobel Prize has been awarded," he says. "There are only four countries in the world which have received more Noble Prizes than Harvard: Great Britain, France, Germany and, of course, the United States."

The Nobel Prize Committee tries to avoid favoring any one nation, Corey says.

"The Nobel committee bends over backwards to see that certain countries with noteworthy scientists are not neglected because of lower profile," he says. "It's unlikely that they would want to concentrate it in one country, let alone one university."

Presently, there are eight Nobel laureates on the University faculty: four in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and four at Harvard Medical School.

Few top researchers ever receive a Nobel, professors say.

I don't envy the people on the Nobel Prize committee at all. It's an extremely difficult job," says Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics Roy J. Glauber. "It's somewhat sad that the Nobel Prize rewards such few people, and in the long run, somewhat randomly."

Despite the prestige and the attention that Nobel Prizes bring to an institution, few professors feel they influence the quality of education that undergraduates receive.

"It has more of a bearing on graduate students and on research than on the undergraduates," Glauber says.

Economics

Gund Professor of Economics Richard E. Caves seems slightly stung that the Nobel Prize in Economics has not been awarded to a Harvard professor since 1973.

"I couldn't deny that is significant," he says. But "the economics department at Harvard is identifies and correctly identified, as the strongest in the U.S. at this time."

"The number [of Nobels] that one has doesn't say anything about the contemporary quality of the department," Caves adds.

Caves says the dearth of economics awards can be attributed to the youth of the Harvard department."

"Our faculty is several decades younger than the point where Nobel Prizes are often awarded," he says.

"We make our appointments of faculty in their 30s and 40s when the Nobel is often awarded for work influential over a long period of time."

A department may be the best in the world but have no Nobels because they are given for long-term research quality, Caves says.

"In recruiting department members, we're always looking for the distinctive and creative qualities that the Nobel Prize committee looks for," Caves says.

The prize Harvard actually came closest to this year, the Nobel for literature, is the one it has never won. Boylston Professor of Rhetoric Seamus Heaney, a poet, was considered a top contender for the award.

"The only drought here is in the field of literature," Herschbach says. "The Crimson is our big hope there.

Presently, there are eight Nobel laureates on the University faculty: four in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and four at Harvard Medical School.

Few top researchers ever receive a Nobel, professors say.

I don't envy the people on the Nobel Prize committee at all. It's an extremely difficult job," says Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics Roy J. Glauber. "It's somewhat sad that the Nobel Prize rewards such few people, and in the long run, somewhat randomly."

Despite the prestige and the attention that Nobel Prizes bring to an institution, few professors feel they influence the quality of education that undergraduates receive.

"It has more of a bearing on graduate students and on research than on the undergraduates," Glauber says.

Economics

Gund Professor of Economics Richard E. Caves seems slightly stung that the Nobel Prize in Economics has not been awarded to a Harvard professor since 1973.

"I couldn't deny that is significant," he says. But "the economics department at Harvard is identifies and correctly identified, as the strongest in the U.S. at this time."

"The number [of Nobels] that one has doesn't say anything about the contemporary quality of the department," Caves adds.

Caves says the dearth of economics awards can be attributed to the youth of the Harvard department."

"Our faculty is several decades younger than the point where Nobel Prizes are often awarded," he says.

"We make our appointments of faculty in their 30s and 40s when the Nobel is often awarded for work influential over a long period of time."

A department may be the best in the world but have no Nobels because they are given for long-term research quality, Caves says.

"In recruiting department members, we're always looking for the distinctive and creative qualities that the Nobel Prize committee looks for," Caves says.

The prize Harvard actually came closest to this year, the Nobel for literature, is the one it has never won. Boylston Professor of Rhetoric Seamus Heaney, a poet, was considered a top contender for the award.

"The only drought here is in the field of literature," Herschbach says. "The Crimson is our big hope there.