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by Sue Kropp
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Oberlin's
Neuroscience Program
DECEMBER 18, 2002--Oberlin's neuroscience program is celebrating its 30th anniversary. What started with a handful of students interested in combining psychology and biology became one of the first neuroscience programs in the country, and gradually evolved into one of the largest-natural science majors in the College.
"I don't think we really knew that we were starting a new program back in 1972," says Professor of Neuroscience Dennison Smith, who is director of the program. "What we really wanted to do was keep pace with current research and offer the classes our students were interested in taking."
Smith, who started his Oberlin career in the psychology department, and the late Ellis Loche Van Atta, professor of psychology and neuroscience, were inundated with students wanting to combine their interests in biology and psychology. The two professors began offering classes in physiological and behavioral psychology, which eventually were codified into a psychobiology major in 1971.
"Van Atta taught the first courses at Oberlin that had neuroscience content. He was originally trained in the field of animal learning, but had spent a sabbatical at Yale where he developed an interest in behavioral neuroscience," Smith says. "By the time I came here in 1969, he had taught a course in physiological psychology for about eight years. I was hired for my background in behavioral neuroscience. By combining our respective areas of expertise, we were able to initiate the psychobiology major."
As the major grew, the duo began offering courses in pharmacology and neuroanatomy. In 1986 the program was reorganized into its present form and renamed the neuroscience program.
"It was pretty obvious to us that we would have to collaborate with the biology department," says Smith. "Neuroscience is by nature a very interdisciplinary study that combines biology, chemistry, and psychology to understand brain functions."
The program expanded to include a position in evolutionary biology and neuroanatomy shared by Mark Braford and Cathy McCormick. Later, Janice Thornton and Michael Loose were hired to teach classes that included Hormones and Behavior and Neurophysiology. Gisela Knight joined the program as a laboratory assistant, preparing the labs for the faculty and co-teaching several courses. Eventually, the Sperry Building was constructed to house the program.
"Sperry really put us one step above the rest of the country," Smith says. "Finally, we had a modern facility devoted solely to neuroscience where we could work with our students and conduct our research."
The neuroscience program continues to evolve and attract new students every year. With the completion of the College's new Science Center, students have even more room and equipment to conduct research alongside their professors.
"The numbers don't lie--we've graduated many successful students who are now teaching at places like Vassar, MIT, and Columbia," says Smith. "Our neuroscience program has been used as a model for colleges and universities across the country interested in starting similar programs."
| To celebrate the program's 30th anniversary, faculty members are busy planning events that will bring together past and present students. In April, three alumni--all of whom have been president of the Society of Neuroscientists--will return to campus to present talks on their research and speculate on the future of neuroscience as a discipline. Bruce McEwen '59, head of the Harold and Margaret Milliken Hatch Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology at Rockefeller University in New York City; Larry Squire '63, one of the foremost researchers in the field of memory; and Robert Wurtz '58, a vision specialist at the National Institute of Health, will be on campus Friday, April 11, through Saturday, April 12. The program also plans to bring several recent neuroscience graduates to Oberlin for a career workshop with current students. |
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