J. Michael Bishop, M.D., winner of the 1989 Nobel Prize in Physiology of Medicine, will discuss his transformation from a small-town boy to a celebrated microbiologist in an appearance at Scott Hall on Friday, Oct. 22. Dr. Bishop will sign copies of his book, "How to Win a Nobel Prize: An Unexpected Life in Science," following his talk.

Dr. Bishop, who won the Nobel Prize for research explaining the process by which normal cellular genes can be mutated into cancer genes, started his education in a two-room school in York, Pa. He went on to attend Gettysburg College and had planned to attend medical school at the University of Pennsylvania until a dean there suggested he accept admission at Harvard instead. Dr. Bishop worked and studied with a series of several talented scientists before one of them recruited him in 1968 to the University of California, San Francisco, where he now serves as chancellor.

Dr. Bishop has said that he is "as devoted to teaching as to research: I find the two vocations equally gratifying." In addition, Dr. Bishop is a voracious reader and an ardent music lover; if offered reincarnation, he said he would prefer the life of a performing musician.

This lecture, sponsored by the WSU Academy of Scholars, the Perinatology Research Branch, NICHD, NIH, DHHS, and the WSU School of Medicine, is free and open to all members of the WSU community. It will be at 3 p.m., Friday, Oct. 22, in the Blue Auditorium of Scott Hall.