How to become a Nobel laureate........

Just so you don't read all the way to the end of this blog and get disappointed, I really don't know how to become a Nobel laureate. Being a graduate of the University of Chicago (UofC), I do know that being associated with that institution at some point of your career, gives you a better chance than your average Jill or Joe to get that cool medal and some cash from those nice folks in Sweden. When you attend a wanna-be Ivy league type school, they tend to grasp at all sorts of obscure facts to make themselves feel better. The one I remember most was the "we have more Nobel laureates than you" expression of superiority. They actually sold t-shirts in the bookstore with all the Nobel laureates associated with the University and the categories for which they won and the years listed.

There was a tall apartment complex (maybe 15 stories, which is tall for Hyde Park) which was called Nobel towers by the locals, because there maybe half a dozen Nobel winners living there. I used to camp outside Saul Bellow's office and sit on the stairway reading one of his books, hoping that I would catch him coming in or out of his office, so I could sheepishly ask him to sign it for me. [He only taught graduate students, and didn't have any office hours posted, strangely enough. Maybe he realized that would make it easier for goofy undergrads like me to stalk him......]

Enrico Fermi won his Nobel in 1938, several years before he began teaching at the UofC, but there is a huge skull/mushroom cloud bronze by my favorite sculptor, Henry Moore, positioned where the squash courts used to be. This was the site of the first nuclear chain reaction, which would not have been possible without Dr. Fermi's work. Whatever your feelings about nuclear energy, you still need to give Dr. Fermi credit for the amazing scientific discovery.

And now the book store can get some new shirts printed with President Obama added to the long list, and those Hyde Parkers can have another statistic to lord over their pals at Harvard and Yale. But seriously, I am happy that the Swedes have seen fit to honor our President with this award. I think he has done a great deal to create a better working relationship with all the rational actors on the world stage. I hope that he continues on in this vein, and is able to make good on most of his significant campaign promises.