About Dr. Paul Gottlieb:

Dr. Gottlieb grew up in Highland Park, New Jersey and received his B.A. in biochemical sciences from Princeton University in 1965. He then attended graduate school at The Rockefeller University, becoming part of the team that solved the structure of antibodies that earned his mentor, Gerald Edelman, the Nobel Prize in 1972.

Dr. Gottlieb also met his wife Nell during this time and, in 1969, they married. Dr. Gottlieb held post-doctoral positions at both Rockefeller and Stanford University. He was an assistant and associate professor at MIT before coming to The University of Texas at Austin as a professor of microbiology in 1980.  In addition to teaching and running a lab, Dr. Gottlieb also held administrative positions; first as department chair and then in 2001, he became director of the School of Biological Sciences.

During his scientific career Dr. Gottlieb was a major contributor to understanding the immune system, having authored or co-authored over seventy publications describing his research on the nature of the immune response. He also served as an editor of various immunological journals, and was a member of numerous committees for the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the American Cancer Society.

The unexpected death of Dr. Gottlieb was a sad loss for everyone who interacted with him and the entire scientific community. His former graduate students held a lot of respect and admiration for their advisor as did all the undergraduates, graduate students, and post-doctoral fellows that he mentored.  Lab members enjoyed eating lunch together, which afforded the opportunity to talk about anything from science to life in general with Dr. Gottlieb. Every Tuesday the lab would go bowling together in the union. Dr. Gottlieb went by the bowling name "El hefe"- the boss. He was a good bowler with goofy little dances to try to pass on good luck or to celebrate strikes. He knew how to make people smile and laugh and have a good time.  Besides bowling, Dr. Gottlieb was very active in other sports. Softball and soccer on UT departmental teams, golf, sailing, skiing, even windsurfing and snowboarding.  He also liked music and began a weekly afternoon tea time for faculty and graduate students to gather and discuss research.

Dr. Gottlieb will be missed by all but with this lecture series we hope to continue his legacy as an outstanding teacher, administrator, and research scientist.

The Dr. Paul Gottlieb Lecture Series:

This lecture series was initiated by the Cell and Molecular Biology graduate students with the help of Dr. Ellen Gottlieb, who is a good friend of, but no relation to, Dr. Paul Gottlieb. The intent of the group was to begin a lecture series where graduate students are given the opportunity to closely interact with inspirational scientists who can share their scientific experiences and achievements.  We named the lecture series in honor of the late Dr. Paul D. Gottlieb, who was an outstanding professor of molecular genetics and microbiology and director of the School of Biological Sciences, until he sadly passed away in November of 2003. 

Over the last year, we have made great strides in establishing this lectureship as a long lasting memorial to a great man.  We have been recognized by the university as a registered student organization.  And, most importantly, the series has received an endowment that will ensure it carries on for many years to come and we hope will continue to grow.  We would like to thank each of Dr. Gottlieb’s friends and family members who contributed to this endowment.