No ifs, ands or buts about it: Ruchika Prakash left the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology a smarter, more innovative future educator than she was going in.
"I started as a graduate student at this interdisciplinary institute, but working at an institute that has been a leader in innovative research, with some of the brilliant and most hard-working scientists in cognitive and clinical neurosciences, helped me solidify my passion for a career in academia," says the Ohio State psychology professor ('09).
“Although I have many work-related anecdotes from my time at the Beckman Institute, one of my fondest memories is having dinner with Paul Lauterbur, a faculty member at University of Illinois who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2003 for his work in magnetic resonance imaging.
"Dr. Lauterbur was being honored for his award in the lobby of the Beckman Institute and my advisor invited me and another graduate student who happened to be working late that evening for the dinner. We were the only two attendees who were not dressed for the occasion, but having dinner with the Nobel laureate who made my area of research even feasible was one of the most amazing experiences of my graduate school.
“Over the years, at the Beckman Institute, I had the privilege of interacting with brilliant minds and for that I am truly grateful.”
