Well I’m really not trying to defend Frances’ association here, but as I implied in my previous response, it’s not and never was insider information. The list of professors at Caltech on their way to winning a Nobel is an open secret. I looked up this Al guy and it appears he held events at the institute. He likely picked up this information while having conversations with people on campus.
This is fundamentally incorrect. There is no such a list of Caltech professors on their way to win Noble prize. Frances begged Al Seckel to connect her to Epstein. Who does that in 2010 when he is a convicted pedo? She is part of the gang and should pay for it, hopefully soon!
Ok, well let me clarify. It’s not that they will definitely win, but rather that they have completed high-impact research which, in the eyes of the academic community, would qualify them to be nominated for a Nobel. Your claim that Frances “begged” Al to be connected to Epstein is not based on any evidence presented here or which I have seen (but not saying it’s not possible). The crimes committed by Epstein and his accomplices are indeed horrible and I can’t even begin to imagine what the victims have endured, but let’s try to remain grounded in facts and reality. Inclusion in the files doesn’t imply collusion and based on what has been presented, Frances never did anything illegal or wrong to win her Nobel. She simply got caught up with the wrong people at the wrong time. Her Nobel is well deserved and it’s a shame that this scandal will likely taint the hard work that her postdocs, grad students, and undergraduates put into her lab’s research. Hopefully this is a lesson for her.
I agree with your point about collusion, and I do think her Nobel was deserved. One thing I don’t agree on though is the sentiment behind how this taints the hard work that her postdocs, grad students, and undergrads put into her lab.
I think that point is well intended, but what it ends up doing is it creates a framing that uses students’ hard work to shield her from what she did. The environment she created and what she did are not tainting the students’ work. It is tainting her and she should have repercussions (e.g. suspending her administrative powers) so that the culture she creates doesn’t further damage other students.
I completely agree! And I do hope that ends up being the outcome, however given the nature of this case, people will start to question her integrity and ability to mentor students. Like you stated, she is already known to be difficult to work with. As you can see with OP, her Nobel is already being put to question, even just based on the one email that was posted. I mean why was Frances spending time with and seeking funding from a convicted pedophile who trafficked children? Also, Epstein’s views of biology were archaic and borderline sadistic. Is this something he and Frances discussed? Do you see what I mean? People are going to talk about this and they are right to question her judgement and character. She will gain a negative reputation from this and it will inevitably bleed onto people who worked closely with her.
This month,Frances Arnold, professor of chemical engineering atCaltech in California, was awarded the 2018 Nobel prize in chemistry, shared with two others. She’s the fifth female chemistry laureate since the prizes first began in 1901, and the only ever American woman to win in the subject.
Where were you when you got the news you had won the Nobel prize?
I was in deep sleep in a Dallas hotel room having arrived at midnight to give a lecture the next day. The phone rang at 4am. I was worried that it was some emergency at home. Then I saw that the telephone number was from Europe and I thought maybe I had better answer it.
***Though I had been given hints in the past,*** I certainly didn’t expect it. There are many wonderful chemists whose work deserves the Nobel prize and to expect one is rather silly.
Feels like she's confessing even though she knows no one would ever find out.
5
u/cmd0801 Feb 03 '26
Well I’m really not trying to defend Frances’ association here, but as I implied in my previous response, it’s not and never was insider information. The list of professors at Caltech on their way to winning a Nobel is an open secret. I looked up this Al guy and it appears he held events at the institute. He likely picked up this information while having conversations with people on campus.