zeptember 27, 1972 ihar Feter, 14~ apologies for this long delay in answerir;t, your June 21 letter. In it you :3zaked if 1 coLrid suj)ply you with some i:, i'ormation relating to the u .rly thinki?;g of M:wcus Bhoades which you might use in composing the laudzitian for the commemorative volume of Theoretical and Applied Cenl?tics. The delay rel:it e8 to my iziabllity to corae to so:Le judgment on the mode of h,indling this request, t?at is, `ðer 01" not you wanted illustrative stories 02% judgment st3tsments. I realize that both modes could be useful for your p~rposes~ On the enclosed sheets I hive mtcie SOZ'N comments r.:-garding the period that bizrcus s;>!ent at Cornell. If you wish to h:ve Co':iments in ?nothg:r form, ple,ise let me know -znd I xi11 try to give them to you. Very best wishes to you and &ally, &incerely, Karcus iihoades c8me to Cornell :lfter spending a year at Cal. Tech, -"trhere he received his I,!,&ers degree u:rrking vlith UrosojJhils. h'hile at CaL i'ech. he picked up the rr:ost advnced genetic concepts of t&t period and brought these with him to Cornell ;7ihere he r gistcired for a Ph.D. degree. These views of genetics were important because so'.:e of them h:ld not yet penetrz;ted ir:to the c 0 !? c e i; t s of the genetics group at Cornell. iwd, I ~8s one OC the first persons to benefit by them. In his very first visit to my lab. he immddiatcl:y grasped the nature 2nd p;:r::oses of my rese:iczh. In the co:l:*se of this first discussion, &#e described how the mntcrirtls I -dw using could serve to answer socie genetic questions that xerc b&rig ;iosed *it the time. This was dote with great enthusi;.ism and quite selfless interest. lie was able, also, to cc!:;municzte his enthusi:lsm to others, and this talent proved to be most imFortwt during ~~11 of his stay at Cornell. It helped to form an active discussio?. * group, to stimulnte the member:: of .:Ilia group to more active 3nd productive p:wticipation in their reoearches, :*.n6 to unite them in ties of mutual respect. ,%nothcr t;lent was very evident in thak?:?e esrly dqs. This was his ability to %nal;ise thoroughly the rwterisl ai:~;e~~ring in published art,.cles. He sliowed nothing to escai;e him. ThLs expressi;: n of corAglete anti thorough sn:ilysis, rcqiilrlL:F; st:L::,i(:*;, r:,nd. * . persever'ince, h2s never faded. It ch:~r .ctz.ri.zes ,211 of his rese!-arches right up to the present day. For the yot:ng gr::du.?.te student at Cornell this precision in thinking snd in resewcTh exhibited b+ :mothcsr grq:iwte stctient (i,iclrous in th-:.s ilIst we> '+~;rzs a model to follow . It had $1 very grecit it,fiuence on the gr-rduate students in our group. The me:r,bers of the group soon lerlrneci to scorn sloppy research :-lnd sloppy thinking. Ivithout question, 1 ,. l*barcus '~~2s the key member of the active group of gradu.te students. He brought them cohesion, enthusiasm, 3nd ,322 ex2r.:G! e to follow. &ring his st'ly at Cornell, Mxcus also showed that inner self-confidence that ?Glowed him to conduct the research for his doctor-4 thesis without fears. His research project was totzily unorthodox and he brought it to a stunning conclusion, building and coordineting the p;.rts piece-by-piece. This resenrch introduced r2e-a e9,:,cepts in genetics. ad tiubsercus went on to other dlsczvcries of gre2t significance, analysis of i)t bei:.:.g a csf.e in l:oint. All through his Cornell d,:ys the e wao never a time when his enthusiasm failed for he was contiruaily at the frontiers of genetic thought -tnd influencing its future direction.