For the first time in the 100-year history of what many consider
the most elite technical university in the world, the California
Institute of Technology has granted tenure to an African American.
With apparently little fanfare, Dr. Stephen Leon Mayo was granted
tenure this past spring. First appointed assistant professor of biology
at the institute in 1992, his work is in the relatively new field of
structural biology. Mayo is attempting to understand biological
phenomena by looking at proteins (DNA, RNA) in three dimensions. His
special contribution to the field is the use of computer modeling to
build and test molecules.
Mayo not only worked hard to achieve his goal, but his timing was
perfect, with proof of his novel approach coming just in time for his
tenure review. Asked what makes his work stand out, he says: “It’s
interdisciplinary, `out there’, and quantitative, so it fits into
Caltech’s view of science.”
Chantal Morgan, one of the graduate students under Mayo’s
supervision, describes what makes working with Mayo an exceptional
experience: “He’s young, easy to relate to, and smart. The big deal
about this lab is that the students come from different disciplines,
and we use both computation and experiments in our `design cycle.'”
While Mayo’s achievement is to be lauded, there are doubts that his
appointment signals a change of heart at an institution noted for its
faculty’s profound lack of interest in cultural diversity.
Dr. Jim Bower, professor of biology at Caltech, is unsparing in his assessment of Mayo’s appointment.
“The baseline interest at Caltech in [multicultural diversity] is
zero. I’m very happy that Steve Mayo is on the faculty, but the thing
you need to know about Steve is that he’s the kind of Black male
[people who are uncomfortable with diversity] don’t mind having around
here. He’s not outside the [anglo, male] cultural envelope.”
