Invited Commencement Speech at the University at Albany:
December 7, 1997

John W. Delano, Ph.D.

"YET ANOTHER CROSSROADS"

President Hitchcock, Provost Genshaft, Vice Presidents and Deans, faculty, staff, graduates, family and friends. It's a privilege to be here. I begin this brief address by first offering my congratulations, as a representative of the faculty of this university, to you, the graduates.

Many individuals, institutions, and nations find themselves today at 'yet another crossroads' where decisions are needed. All are attempting to understand their roles, responsibilities, and opportunities in the post-Cold War era. In charting a path into the future, it is important to boldly and explicitly identify our values and our strengths. While facing challenges of the current magnitude is not easy, and success is not assured, it is important to be optimistic, and to be guided by axioms, principles, and examples provided by those who have come before us and are remembered by their success at meeting their own great challenges. In the next few minutes, some of the axioms and values that I personally have found helpful will be briefly mentioned.

With that as a preamble, I offer the following axiom:  In facing crossroads in life, draw strength and guidance from values that are fundamentally strong and simple; for it is they that will endure, when elaborate, artificial, or contrived notions either fail or are forgotten.

These simple values are also familiar to all of us. They are:   (1) Humility, (2) Honesty, (3) Humor, (4) Persistence, (5) Courage and Leadership.

1. HUMILITY:  I wanted to be a scientist ever since I was 8 years old, and it has been my great fortune to have been able to become one. I have not always appreciated the importance of humility, but have come with age and experience to better understand its necessity. Nature has taught me to understand that I have a limited software package between the ears. Research into Nature teaches scientists that most of what we initially guess, think, or imagine is true when we begin our explorations into the unknown workings of Nature is ultimately found to be wrong. It is science's ability to test ideas, and to discard the majority of failed initial notions, that allows us to identify, learn about, and celebrate those special ideas that actually work. It's in this process that knowledge is acquired and progress is made. From time-to-time, perhaps either as a reward for persistence or out of pity, Nature allows scientists to revel in the excitement and privilege of discovery. Being the first to glimpse some newly discovered beauty of Nature is a special delight. Based on this experience of frequent error and rare success, many scientists become convinced of the value of the KISS principle (i.e., Keep It Simple Stupid).

   In science then, where it is routinely possible to find out what ideas and opinions are right and which ones aren't, we commonly find that most of our initial ideas are wrong. This fact highlights our intrinsic mental limitations and should be remembered when we face issues in life that are not so easily verifiable as Nature is by science. Simply note that most opinions that you and I have on complicated, abstract notions are more likely to be wrong than to be right. As a scientist, I am confident of only a few things, but this is one of them, and it serves as a verifiable source of humility.

   As a former Dean of the Harvard Medical School said when speaking to a graduating class of physicians:  "Ladies and gentlemen congratulations. However, be aware of the following. Half of what you have been taught is probably wrong. The problem is that we don't yet know which half."

2. HONESTY:  A friend of mine in the Dean's office once told me of a favorite saying:  "Always tell the truth. It is easier to remember under pressure." Crossroads are times of pressure.

   Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote:  "Who you are, speaks so loudly that I can't hear what you're saying". Here is an anonymous story that I recently found on the Internet to illustrate this:

   It was sunny day on a Saturday afternoon. A proud father was taking his two little boys to play miniature golf. He walked up to the person at the ticket counter and said, "How much is it to get in?" The person in the ticket counter replied, "$3.00 for you, and $3.00 for any kid who is older than six. We let them in free if they are six or younger. How old are they?", asked the person in the ticket counter gesturing to the two boys. The father replied, "This one is three and this one is seven, so I guess I owe you $6.00". The person in the ticket counter said, "Hey, Mister, did you just win the Lottery or something? You could have told me that the older one was six, and I wouldn't have known the difference". "Yes", replied the father as his two young boys listened, "that may be true, but the kids would have known the difference".

3. HUMOR:  Delight in laughter. View life from a variety of perspectives, including those ways that will make you, and others, smile and laugh. Norman Cousins said:  "Hearty laughter is a good way to jog internally without having to go outdoors." Humor will provide additional stamina for the spirit when facing important choices and decisions at those crossroads.

   For example, here are some questions to ponder that are not original to me:

   If the police were to arrest a mime, would they tell him that he had the right to remain silent?

   Why is the word 'abbreviation' so long?

   If a stealth bomber crashes into a forest, will it make a sound?

   Do hungry crows have ravenous appetites?

   Would a fly without wings be called a 'walk'?

4. PERSISTENCE:  President Calvin Coolidge from the State of Vermont wrote on persistence:

   "Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. TALENT will not, since nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. GENIUS will not, since unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."

   According to a Middle Eastern proverb:  "Humanity is divided into three classes:  those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move."

   Those people belonging to the latter category have a significant advantage at all crossroads when intellect, initiative, and imagination are needed. Don't shrink from those challenges, Rather, consider the following idea from Life's Little Instruction Book by H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

   "Don't say that you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to ... Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein."

5. COURAGE AND LEADERSHIP:  We can all benefit from imitating those individuals who display courage, leadership, and dedication. These qualities are essential at times of major challenges and decisions.

   Sir Winston Churchill wrote:  "An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile - hoping it will eat him last".

   Thomas Huxley wrote:  "God give me strength to face a fact though it slay me."

   Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-1890) wrote:  "Nothing would be done at all if a person waited until something could be done so well that no one could find fault with it."

   While himself at a crossroads in his Administration during a grim period of the Cold War, President John Kennedy said on September 12, 1962 in defense of his previous year's speech (May 25, 1961) to Congress laying out the goal of sending American astronauts to the Moon before the end of the decade:  "Why, some say, the Moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask, why climb the highest mountain? Why 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? We choose to go to the Moon! We choose to go to the Moon ... in this decade NOT because it is easy, but because it is hard. Because THAT GOAL will serve to organize and measure the BEST of our energies and skills. Because THAT challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one that we are unwilling to postpone, and one that we intend to win!"

   The footprints left by the 12 astronauts on the Moon, which will remain for at least 100 million years, continue to bear silent testimony to a generation of beings who upon arriving at yet another crossroads boldly and successfully charted a path of historic dimension.

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Today we celebrate your accomplishments. As a representative of the faculty of this university, I congratulate each of you. I also congratulate those who have been sources of support, encouragement, and inspiration in your lives.

In facing other crossroads in your life, I suggest that you can draw strength and guidance from fundamentally strong and simple values; for they will endure when elaborate, artificial, or contrived notions either fail or are forgotten. Those values were:  Humility, Honesty, Humor, Persistence, Courage and Leadership.

In closing, I leave you with a quotation of unknown authorship. It is prominently displayed on the outside of my office door and is also carried in my wallet. Here it is:

Excellence can be attained if you ...
Care more than others think is wise.
Risk more than others think is safe.
Dream more than others think is practical.
Expect more than others think is possible.

Live long and prosper. Thank you.