"Before I Was a Scientist"
There is no single path to becoming a scientist … just ask Caltech’s faculty. Here are some of the varied experiences they had on the road to their current careers.
Jean Paul (Pablo) Ampuero Saenz
Professor of Seismology
T-shirt graphic artist
Bass player in punk/metal bands
Translator at a trade fair
Jeep chauffeur in Cuba
Indian food delivery guy
Frances Arnold
Nobel Laureate; Linus Pauling Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering and Biochemistry; Director, Donna and Benjamin M. Rosen Bioengineering Center
Jazz club cocktail waitress
Taxi driver
Worker in a factory building nuclear reactor parts
Rob Phillips
Fred and Nancy Morris Professor of Biophysics, Biology, and Physics
[Left high school at 17]
Computer store clerk
Electrician
Surfboard shaper
Dean Mobbs
Assistant Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience
[Left high school at 15]
Part-time garbage man
House painter
Amateur boxer
“Some people are surprised when they learn I got my undergraduate degree in English. Your focus can change as your horizons broaden, but it is focus that lets you know when that change is important, it’s focus that lets you dream new concepts that will surprise you, focus that ultimately sets your imagination free.”
