That coat was the only ego-boosting aspect of that first job, which tested my resolve to become a research assistant. Much of the experimental work in the lab involved surgical procedures on dogs, which meant I was assigned to the beagle patrol. Yes, I cleaned the dog pens daily in the sweltering heat of the St. Louis summer. I passed this first test, and the following summer I was rewarded with the air conditioning of the lab and the minimum wage ($2.50/hour).
After learning the rudiments of chemistry, biology, and physics in high school, in 1972 I headed off to Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, intending to major in biology and later attend medical school. I was determined to choose a career path distinct from my father, who, as a farm boy with only a high school education, was one of the founding employees of McDonnell Aircraft Corporation, known today as McDonnell Douglas (or, since the recent merger, Boeing).
But my dream of attending medical school was dealt a severe blow in my first semester of freshman year. Despite working harder than I ever had, my grades were straight Cs. I still loved science, but it seemed clear that my academic interests had to be applied to a career that didn't require the straight-A record needed to get into medical school. I changed to focus on the pursuit of science as an intellectual passion, all the while keeping an eye toward other career applications open to an undergraduate double major in Biology and Russian.
The Plan
By my senior year in 1976, it was clear that two areas of science-molecular biology and neuroscience-were poised to undergo a revolution. It was also clear to me that these scientific advances would lead to remarkable opportunities in industry. So my plan was to get a Ph.D. and position myself to capture new career opportunities in the industrial applications of biological sciences.
I chose to attend graduate school at Bryn Mawr College (with an all-female undergraduate school) in the fall of 1976 for two reasons: first, I could pursue a double degree in biochemistry and neurobiology with professors I truly admired and, second, after 8 years at an all-male prep school and 4 years at Bowdoin (where mine was the second class to admit women), I could instantly improve my odds of getting a date.
I spent my first 2 years in the advanced seminar program, which had a strong emphasis on independent study. My summers were spent at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, working on experiments to support my Ph.D. thesis.
It was in Woods Hole in the summer of 1978, while sitting on the beach reading the Sunday New York Times that I learned about the first sign of a convergence of biology and industry. A patent covering oil-eating bacteria had been granted to General Electric Co. This so-called Chakabarty patent was the first granted on a new life form. It was absolutely clear to me that if one could patent new biological discoveries, industrial applications were not far behind.
The Mentor
The harsh reality in 1980 was that I had a Ph.D., a finance, and a job in the Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology at Case Western Reserve Medical School paying $13,380. By accepting this job, I allowed my career to move along a classic academic route in pursuit of my love for science. Unfortunately, I had achieved the "easy" part of my plan-the advanced degree-but I lacked the career-specific vision and the means to execute this vision.
I didn't know it at the time, but what I needed was a mentor. But within the span of a few months, I found two mentors. The first would provide me with the business vision to pursue and the second would give me the intellectual confidence to execute the plan. My business mentor took me back to St. Louis. Dr. Louis Fernandez was named chairman of the board of Monsanto in 1980, capping a distinguished career at the company where he began as a bench scientist. Monsanto was positioning itself for the future of agricultural biotechnology under Dr. Fernandez's leadership. He was also on the board of directors of Biogen, at the time a fledgling biotechnology startup in Cambridge, Massachusetts, led by the Nobel Prize laureate, Dr. Walter Gilbert.
In high school, I had often played tennis with Dr. Fernandez. So I took a risk and wrote him a letter describing my interest in combining a background in science with work in industry. Five days later, I received a return letter inviting me to a meeting in St. Louis. During our 2-hour discussion, we spoke about the coming revolution in the biotechnology industry and Monsanto's keen interest in capitalizing on the opportunity.
Dr. Fernandez told me to pursue my post-doc but concurrently to take some accounting and finance courses. He told me that Monsanto would have many opportunities for someone with my skill set, but if he were in my shoes, he would go to Wall Street and become an investment analyst. His view was that the biotechnology industry was going to emerge as an important new industry with significant capital requirements. Also, there were going to be many public biotechnology companies in need of analytical and scientific insight. Well there it was, presented on silver platter-undeniably the best advice that I have ever received. I now had an executable plan.
My other mentor's influence was gradual in developing, but his teaching had a profound impact on the skills I draw upon as an analyst and investor. Dr. Raymond Lasek, a noted neuroscientist, taught me to work and think independently; to be curious and creative; to write succinctly and to communicate clearly with strong and persuasive selling skills; to take risks and to be scared; and above all, to challenge the wisdom of the status quo.
The First Break
During the three years I spent in Dr. Lasek's lab, I learned completely new fields of science, but most important, I learned that I could teach myself almost anything. My research project was highly interdisciplinary, focusing on neuroscience, cell biology and biochemistry. At night and on weekends, I followed the stock market, invested in health care stocks, and studied the ascent of the biotechnology industry.
I prepared a resume spent months refining my cover letter (the written description of what I wanted to do in a career), and interviewed for a variety of industrial and consulting positions. This was all intended as preparation for the trip to Wall Street. I learned about the Wall Street firms covering health care and biotechnology stocks; I studied the backgrounds of the biotechnology analysts; I talked to investment professionals to learn about the investment process.
From this effort, I knew that I had a deficiency, and curiously enough it was an academic deficiency. My scholastic background lacked an academic pedigree recognizable on Wall Street. Specifically, I had not attended an Ivy League school or a leading business school. Either or both of these represented an entrance ticket to a job on the Street. Further, my family lacked Wall Street contacts. But an M.B.A. seemed out of reach-I was 29, married for 3 years and still making less than $15,000.1 was, however, hungry and resourceful.
I then learned about a summer program sponsored by the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania, designed to train Ph.D.'s in business fundamentals. Instinctively, I knew the potential importance of this program. My summer in Philadelphia at Wharton was fantastic- tremendous teachers, dedicated administrators, and a diverse and an enthusiastic group of colleagues. The time was right to put this all to work.
I interviewed with three Wall Street firms and I chose to join a distinguished research department at Kidder, Peabody & Company as a biotechnology analyst. My group leader and Wall Street mentor, Arnie Snider, later told me that my cover letter and resume stood out among the many people Kidder was interviewing. The refinement of these two documents over the previous year had paid off! In addition, I interviewed well, I was knowledgeable about the securities business and the other Wall Street firms and I had a view of biotech stocks and an understanding of the biotech industry.
After I was hired, my boss, George Boyce, showed me my office, gave me free reign in defining the stocks I would follow, and left me alone for a year as I traveled throughout the United States visiting companies and attending scientific meetings. I made $85,000 my first year in the business. I was hooked!
