[Letter from Dr. Chauncey D. Leake, June 1955] Page: 1 of 4
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June, 1955
Dear All:
It is interesting to have to sit around here and wait a month or so to hear what
happened in San Francisco at the Pharmacology Society meeting. Why can't some of you
fellows let me know? There is much important business in connection with the Society,
and you know perfectly well that I am interested and that I would like to contribute
to the activities of the Society.
It seems to me that the resolution on freedom of inquiry in respect to scienti-
fic matters is a sound one. I think that it is much better to have prepared it in
this way than in regard to some specific individual. This resolution can have sig-
nificance and importance, particularly if it is widely published. I hope that it
passes, and that it will be published in Science, and that it may add to the general
movement of blocking further authoritarian efforts at the control of university people.
This matter seems to be much more important than many of us realize. At the
Neuropharmacology Society meeting in Princeton last week, I had much comment from men
from all parts of the country regarding the dangers to us all in submitting to con-
formity in regard to political issues that impinge on scientific matters. We do have
to uphold the liberal tradition. It does take the faith of a liberal really to make
a good scientist.
The month has been a busy and active one. The meeting of the Board of Regents
here was exciting, in that I threw caution to the winds, took my chance when I saw
the members of the Medical Committee together on the porch of the Ashbel Smith Build-
ing, and went right to it and told them off. My point is simple: that it is unwise
for governing boards to attempt to carry through details of academic procedures,
whether in connection with organization efforts, policies of teaching, curricula,
or methods. These are the jobs of the faculty. From there we went on down the line,
and I was surprised to learn that the members of the Board of Regents here were ap-
parently so naive as to think that they could build and develop a first-class health
center on the basis of antiquated concepts. Anyway the episode made Elizabeth and
me feel better!
I had an interesting flying trip to Columbus to speak at Ohio State University.
Eric Ogden runs a swell show there in physiology. He has an exceptionally fine lab-
oratory, first-class equipment, and a remarkable staff. Charles Doan has done a
superb job generally in developing a health center with admirable men. He is pro-
moting a program with many visitors. Carroll Faust was there, and we had a lot of
fun together. The students in the School of Medicine are very interesting in that
over 60o are married, and they seem to be an extremely stable group.
In New York I had the pleasure of seeing some previews of a group of science
television shows that are going to be extraordinary. They are really superbly con-
ceived and worked out, and I think tell a first-class story. I have been called for
consultation on one dealing with blood and circulation. While the usual Hollywood
techniques are employed of seeming informal studio activity, the programs are really
very sophisticated.
The sessions on neuropharmacology at Princeton for the Macy Foundation were
most stimulating. There were extensive reports on lysergic acid diethylamide by
A. Cerletti of Sandoz in Basle. It is interesting that none of the chemical relatives
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Leake, Chauncey Depew, 1896-1978. [Letter from Dr. Chauncey D. Leake, June 1955], letter, June 1955; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1220738/m1/1/: accessed June 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Moody Medical Library, UT.