Colin Pittendrigh was a biology department faculty member during the 1950s and ’60s. He also served on NIH study sections during that time. Back in those days, the NIH funded the construction of biomedical research buildings on university campuses (hard to image given the state of affairs today). Dr. Pittendrigh was annoyed that such projects commonly had large cost overruns. So when Princeton applied for NIH funding to build the Moffett labs, Dr. Pittendrigh wanted to be sure the project would be completed on budget. And it was. As a result there were no “frills,” such as good quality lab benches, cold rooms, vacuum and compressed air lines, fume hoods, central air conditioning for the building, etc., etc.
Work to address these and other deficiencies was initiated almost immediately and was being vigorously pursued when I was a graduate student in the 1970s. Obviously the work never stopped and is going on today. Hopefully the latest iteration, though inconvenient, will result in a permanent fix.
Colin Pittendrigh was a biology department faculty member during the 1950s and ’60s. He also served on NIH study sections during that time. Back in those days, the NIH funded the construction of biomedical research buildings on university campuses (hard to image given the state of affairs today). Dr. Pittendrigh was annoyed that such projects commonly had large cost overruns. So when Princeton applied for NIH funding to build the Moffett labs, Dr. Pittendrigh wanted to be sure the project would be completed on budget. And it was. As a result there were no “frills,” such as good quality lab benches, cold rooms, vacuum and compressed air lines, fume hoods, central air conditioning for the building, etc., etc.
Work to address these and other deficiencies was initiated almost immediately and was being vigorously pursued when I was a graduate student in the 1970s. Obviously the work never stopped and is going on today. Hopefully the latest iteration, though inconvenient, will result in a permanent fix.