The Analytical Scientist / Issues / 2013 / Nov / Fame and Fortune?

Fame and Fortune?

Having thrust 100 analytical scientists to the heights of stardom in our 2013 Power List, we went back to assess the reaction of colleagues, friends and family. The response was mixed.

By Rich Whitworth 11/18/2013 1 min read

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“A very typical response. People in my own group reacted and I got email messages from people around the world. The people in between have remained remarkably quiet. Does recognition as a function of distance follow a van-Deemter curve (see Figure 1)? This may be generally true. Who is ever appreciated by middle management (except middle management)? Or is the range in the middle immune to information, even when presented nicely?” – Peter Schoenmakers (Number 7).

1013-205-fig.1Figure 1. Recognition as a function of distance: reactions to the Power List.

“A member of my family said ‘Wow, so that’s what you do. I guess it must be important then!’” – John Justin Gooding “Who cares about that stuff? Not even the Head of my Department made any comment.” – Georges Guiochon (Number 10) “All I can say is that complete strangers emailed and congratulated me, while my friends and colleagues pretty much ignored the honor. Perhaps the most appropriate local comment was that my orange lab coat in the photo-collage was very ‘Illini’.” – Jonathan Sweedler (Number 4)

“It has been a crazy week. Your list attracted a lot of attention at least at our institution. I got a lot of emails about it, and mentions on LinkedIn and I heard from people that I haven’t been in touch with for a long time. It’s been interesting. I was surprised and honored to be on the list.”  - Sue Lunte “A colleague of mine saw the list and mentioned that he was pleased to see me in it. Such rankings might sometimes include embarrassing omissions; therefore, I tend not to take them too seriously. Thanks for including me despite the fact that I don’t know exactly how I made it to the list!” - Christian Griesinger My colleagues in the Netherlands noticed it and congratulated me. To show that I really approve of it, I also uploaded it on our website! - Lutgarde Buydens

About the Author(s)

Rich Whitworth

Rich Whitworth completed his studies in medical biochemistry at the University of Leicester, UK, in 1998. To cut a long story short, he escaped to Tokyo to spend five years working for the largest English language publisher in Japan. "Carving out a career in the megalopolis that is Tokyo changed my outlook forever. When seeing life through such a kaleidoscopic lens, it's hard not to get truly caught up in the moment." On returning to the UK, after a few false starts with grey, corporate publishers, Rich was snapped up by Texere Publishing, where he spearheaded the editorial development of The Analytical Scientist. "I feel honored to be part of the close-knit team that forged The Analytical Scientist – we've created a very fresh and forward-thinking publication." Rich is now also Content Director of Texere Publishing, the company behind The Analytical Scientist.

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