March 01, 2006
They’re both highly respected in their areas of expertise and
extremely charming, and now they’ve hobnobbed with royalty! St.
John’s University Biology Professors Dipak and Jaya Haldar attended
an overseas scholars’ reunion at London’s Buckingham Palace
February 20 hosted by HRH Prince Philip. The event commemorated the
Prince’s 40th year as President of the 1851 Royal Commission, which
funds scholarships for advanced study to top scientists —12 have
become Nobel Laureates ― from British Commonwealth nations. More
than 400 of the program’s alumni from all over the world attended
the event.
“The Prince asked me about the research I did when I was a
young scholar, and about my life now,” relates Professor Dipak
Haldar upon his return to St. John’s. The two professors spoke
excitedly about the lavish surroundings ― adorned with paintings
and sculpture ― in the three beautiful Buckingham Palace halls
where the reception was held.
Dipak Haldar was the Commission’s sole science scholarship
recipient from India in 1963, when he was awarded full funding for
three years of research and study. Although he had just received
his doctorate in Biochemistry from the University of Calcutta, the
young scientist had to leave his new bride Jaya, a fellow
biologist, to pursue his calling at the National Institute for
Medical Research in the Mill Hill section of London. Jaya finally
arrived a few months later, and the young couple spent the next two
and a half years in London, where they both pursued further
study.
Received Second Ph.D. in
Biochemistry
Dipak received his second Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 1966 from the
University of London. Jaya, funded by a Burroughs Welcome
Foundation scholarship, also completed her Ph.D. in Physiology at
the University of London.
“Eight candidates were interviewed in New Delhi when I was
selected,” says Professor Dipak Haldar, a St. John’s
Biological Sciences faculty member since 1975 who is also the
Director of the department’s Graduate Studies. “I felt a degree
from London would be recognized universally. I just needed to do
three years of research since I had already done the course
work.”
“The National Institute was the top academic research
institution in Great Britain,” says Professor Jaya Haldar, who has
worked at St. John’s as a Biological Sciences faculty member since
1983. “We worked with very good scientists.”
They left England the day after Dipak received his Ph.D., spent
three years as post-doctoral fellows in Canada, then both landed
jobs in Tennessee.
They returned to their native India for two years when Dipak was
offered a lectureship at the University of Calcutta, but came back
to the U.S. during the Naxal Movement, a period of political and
student unrest that interrupted his teaching.
Dipak Joined Faculty in 1975
After a stint at the Public Health Research Institute of New York,
Dipak joined the St. John’s faculty in 1975. Jaya, who had been an
Assistant Professor at Columbia University, moved to St. John’s in
1983.
“When she joined the [Biological Sciences] department, no one
knew what it would be like for a husband and wife to work as
faculty in the same department,” says Professor Dipak Haldar.
“Initially, we kept ourselves separate. We never ate lunch
together. It was important to us to establish our own
identities.”
“People here understand that we are independent thinkers,” says
Professor Jaya Haldar. “I think we’ve set a good example for other
couples.”
“The Haldars taught us how a married couple can work in the same
department,” says Professor Jay Zimmerman, Biological Sciences
Chair. “The Buckingham Palace invitation is further validation of
the international reputation of the department’s faculty.”
The Haldars say they’ve enjoyed and appreciated the freedom
they’ve had at St. John’s to develop their own research.
Professor Dipak specializes in the cell biology of Mitochondria:
structure, synthetic processes and biogenesis. He has been funded
by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science
Foundation. In 2003, he was the recipient of the St. Vincent de
Paul Award, St. John’s highest honor.
Professor Jaya researches the regulation of synthesis and
release of spinal cord oxytocin, a hormone used in spinal cord
function.
Dipak Presents Research Data in
India
The Haldars returned to India in January so that Dipak could
present research data from St. John’s to the University of Calcutta
for the Biochemistry department’s 50th anniversary.
The couple comes from a culture in which education is valued and
emphasized. Dipak’s grandfather received his master’s degree in
physical science from the University of Calcutta in 1883. Both of
Jaya’s parents and her grandfather were physicians.
Professors Dipak and Jaya Haldar are on campus by 8 a.m. six to
seven days a week. “This is our second home,” says Jaya. “We have
to be here to monitor our research. We’re glad we’ve worked so
hard. I tell students that this is the time to invest in their
studies. No matter what happens in life, no one can take away your
accomplishments.”
Dipak, who’s witnessed many graduate students develop confidence
in their abilities here at St. John’s, says he doesn’t believe he
would have left India if it hadn’t been for the 1851 Royal
Commission scholarship, an educational program that promotes the
Great Exhibition’s original vision of encouraging science and
industry.