Presentation of the Mineralogical Society of America Award for 2010 to Benjamin Gilbert

Abstract

It is a special pleasure for me, and a distinct honor, to introduce the 2010 MSA awardee, Benjamin Gilbert. Liking science from early youth, Ben started his physics studies at Cambridge University, ultimately selecting a project that connected biology with physics as much as possible: the interaction of proteins with surfaces. This was to be, a portentious decision. Upon graduating he found less than enthusiastic interest from possible physics graduate schools in the U.K., a mutual consideration as traditional condensed matter physics did not appeal to him. But serendipity intervened, as the scientist now known as Pupa Gilbert, working in Giorgio Margaritondo’s group, was looking to hire a biophysics Ph.D. student at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology at Lausanne (EPFL). Her interest was in developing a new therapy for brain cancer, and to this end she …