Thoughts from the President

July 18, 2025 - Thoughts About a Group That Matters

Dear Danforth Center Community,

In these last few months before stepping down as President and CEO, reflective thoughts seem to be firing nonstop in my head. In the darker, pessimistic corner of my mind, I’ve pondered the film “Groundhog Day” and the main character played by Bill Murray who asked, “What would you do if…nothing you did mattered? Fortunately, that thought gets cancelled by the remaining headspace, which is activating thoughts of overwhelming appreciation for those who have worked with me through the years and who achieved so many good things that made a difference. I’ll share thoughts about some of those Danforth Center achievements and experiences in subsequent weekly messages.

Today, my thoughts focus on the numerous individuals who chose to join my lab group over the past 37 years at four institutions. I’m thankful that talented and ambitious new graduate students, like Maria Restrepo-Hartwig and Jeanmarie Verchot-Lubicz, joined an inexperienced assistant professor with no track record training Ph.D candidates in the late 1980s. I’m thinking about Valerian Dolja and Eugene Koonin, Ukrainian and Russian scientists in what was then the Soviet Union, who somehow arranged sabbatical-like visits to the lab in 1991; those visits had tremendous impact our lab and their careers. I’m thinking about Noah Fahlgren, who had such high impact on the lab (and on many of you!) when he taught himself to be a card-carrying data scientist after he joined as a Ph.D. student in the mid-2000s. Every one of the current and former lab members has a unique story, a unique contribution and a unique legacy.

Personally and professionally, I owe every one of those individuals an enormous debt of gratitude. So, in two months on Friday, September 12, they will be thanked and honored at a Carrington Lab Reunion and mini-symposium open to the Danforth Center community. The mini-symposium is being co-organized by Kerri Gilbert and Noah Fahlgren, and will tell the stories of discovery in the lab, people who made it all happen, and surprises along the way. I look forward to hearing how so many former lab members ascended in their careers after they left the lab.

We will communicate details of the mini-symposium program and speakers in the near future. You are all invited.

Jim Carrington,
President and Chief Executive Officer

Previous Weekly Messages from Jim Carrington