Working with Tom

At the last year of my graduate study, I decided to postdoc either with Tom Steitz to deepen my crystallographic skills or with Richard Henderson to learn electron cryomicroscopy (cryoEM). Before I formally applied, I was offered a postdoc position in a molecular biology laboratory at Yale University. I told the principal investigator of my intention to work in the Steitz laboratory. He therefore arranged a meeting with Tom. Since it was not a formal interview, I was not sure what to expect. Tom, dressed in his iconic tweed jacket, greeted me warmly. However, the meeting did not go well, I thought. When Tom asked about my thesis project, I told him about my structural and functional studies of tryptophanyl tRNA synthetase and my experience in using the maximum entropy method for phase optimization in Charlie Carter's laboratory at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Tom listened carefully. He then asked if I had solved a structure using experimental phases. I sheepishly said, “No.” On my flight back, I was disappointed with myself. However, to my surprise, an email from Tom came next day offering me a position in his laboratory. I moved to New Haven soon after.