I was focused on thesis writing, but there were other things I needed to do to secure my career track. I had to prepare for what I would be doing after my postdoc in France. Trying to line up a job over a year in advance is difficult at best. I needed to consider the productivity of my future boss, the research he/she was doing now and likely to be doing in the future, plus Ann’s wishes to be within driving distance of her parents. That limited us to Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. It was no use looking at advertisements for job openings, because no one would hold a job for that long. So I sent requests to carefully targeted people, telling them my plans and asking if they thought a position with them might be possible in the future. Most of the responses were generic “check with me later’s, but I did get some interested responses. I was invited to Toledo to talk about my current research, my research plans in Paris and possibilities for a post doc upon my return from Paris. The request came from William Jacobus, a very well known scientist in NMR and creatine kinase. He was also the new department chair in the Medical College of Ohio in Toledo. Toledo was good because it was close to Ann’s parents. Dr. Jacobus was good because he had similar research interests to mine, and as a department chair he might be in a position to ensure a job for me when I returned from a year in Paris.

When I phoned him Dr. Jacobus asked me to call him Bill, to bring some of my data with me and to prepare a seminar presentation of my work to be given to his department. I planned to drive down early in the morning, go through the interview, presentations and data discussions and drive back that evening. Bill offered to put me up in a hotel overnight, but I was hoping to demonstrate to Ann that one could go back and forth in one day, which is what she wanted to be able to do to visit her parents.

I prepared a slide show for the big day. It was going to be an all-day job interview. I really wanted to impress Bill and his team and worked hard to make a good impression. Bill and Renee were also good friends and colleagues, so it was important to make Renee aware of this prospect, and assure her that it would not detract from what I would be doing with her. Everyone in the world of creatine research seemed to be very friendly and almost like a family.

It was an easy drive to Toledo from Lansing, and a familiar one, because it was a small part of the route I took when driving to and from New York. I only drove via Canada that one time. It was easy to find the Medical College of Ohio at Toledo and Bill’s office. When I entered the office his assistant said that he was expecting me. I think I felt the room shake as Bill walked in. Bill Jacobus was a tall, well-built man and at about 6’4’’ he was an imposing figure. His scientific pedigree was impressive too, because his former Ph.D. supervisor was Lehninger. The name Lehninger is now more than a proper name—it is a noun as well. Rarely do scientists say “Dr. Lehninger” or “Albert L. Lehninger.” This is because in biochemistry, one of the definitive textbooks in the field is the Lehninger text Biochemistry (Worth Publishers, Inc., New York). Being an intellectual progeny of someone of Lehninger’s stature was evidence of a solid scientific pedigree.

Bill gripped my hand firmly and shook it vigorously as he pulled me into his office. The office had large 24” by 36” photos in vivid color, from his travels all over the world. When I commented on them Bill said that he took them himself, and told me where each was taken.

Bill asked me about my research and my results. Bill was a fan of the compartmentation hypothesis and realized that my research seemed to be supporting that hypothesis. He asked me what Ron Myer thought of it and I told him that Ron was less than supportive. I was becoming used to calling these doctors and professors by their first names. It seemed that the closer I got to receiving my doctorate, the less mystifying these figures became and the easier it was to be on a first-name basis with them.

Bill was entertained to see that research coming from Ron’s institution seemed to be supporting compartmentation and that this work was in vascular smooth muscle – arteries. The artery work on compartmentation was not unique for scientists studying arteries, but the fact that it involved creatine kinase research like Ron’s and that it was coming from Michigan State University was something that Bill relished. I watched Bill’s face as he seemed to process this information and file it for use later. It was reminiscent of when I worked with my father and he would look at a new tool and decide to buy it for some carpentry project. Bill was acquiring information to be used as a tool in his research. Our discussion of my data and thesis was animated and enjoyable. It was unclear if Bill was asking me questions to probe my knowledge or genuinely interested in what I had to say. I think he really was interested in my opinion, and I enjoyed the process of the discussion. It was not at all like a job interview.

We got onto the topic of his own research and he became even more animated. He was interested in novel aspects of the compartmentation of energy metabolism in muscle, including creatine as well as other metabolites and enzymes. While what he was saying was off line to what I had been doing, it was also quite parallel. I immediately saw the implications of what he was proposing and could see how my skill sets could be used to answer such a clever scientific question. Bill sensed my piqued interest and we both warmed to the ideas being discussed that day. The project would have me working on mitochondrial enzymes called hexokinase, which worked like creatine kinase. These two enzymes were both in the mitochondria, which are the structures in the cell that make most of the cell’s energy, and both used some of the same molecules in their reactions. The project was to see what conditions controlled the enzyme’s activity. I found myself actively involved in making suggestions as to possible experiments and enhancements of his ideas, which was a lot of fun. I had been so focused on my thesis work, that it was refreshing and invigorating to be discussing other experiments in this way.

Bill gave me a tour of his research lab and I talked to some of the people working for him. Bill had not been here long, so some things were still ramping up. It was clear to me that there were background experiments that needed to be performed before getting to the project that Bill and I had discussed. This would enable me to do my post doc in France and come back here to work with Bill and help out with his projects. My excitement grew because it all seemed to be falling into place. The plan would be to finish my Ph.D. in December, move to Paris in January, help Ann move to Paris in June, and then both move to Toledo in January of the following year. The ultimate plan seemed obvious; we would be married shortly after that. At that moment I realized I needed to propose to Ann, but she was miles away and I had no money for an engagement ring. The plan that formed in my head was to promise to buy her a ring in Paris after I had saved up some money. I would be making a pretty good salary and could eventually afford a nice ring so we could get engaged in Paris. It was all very clear to me.