From Stuyvesant Student to Nobel Prize Laureate: Dr. Richard Axel

A desk piled with research papers, a wall of whiteboards covered in nearly-illegible formulas and calculations, and shelf upon shelf overflowing with novels: this is what you’ll find in the office of Dr. Richard Axel (‘63), a Nobel Laureate in the field of Physiology or Medicine. His office may seem overwhelming, but behind the office door is a humble and deeply passionate scientist: Dr. Axel, and his student, Linda Buck, who shared the 2004 Nobel Prize for their research and subsequent discoveries about the fascinating and complex connections between smell and the brain.

Years at Stuyvesant

Raised in Brooklyn in a family of Polish immigrants who’d never finished high school, Dr. Axel was grateful for the opportunities Stuyvesant offered him when he entered the school in 1959. He reflected, “This world of knowledge that Stuyvesant afforded me was an absolutely spectacular experience. I just tried to enjoy learning because it was the first time I was in an environment where I got the feeling that knowledge has value unto itself and was not necessarily an end unto itself and not a means to an end. And I embraced it; I really loved it.”

While describing the environment at Stuyvesant, Dr. Axel was reminded of the people he met there. In awe, he characterized them as “the smartest and most interesting group of people that [he had] ever been surrounded by.” He further recounted, “I went from Stuyvesant to Columbia College to Johns Hopkins Medical School. And I really feel that the students in Stuyvesant were more balanced [and] more intelligent than [those] in any of my subsequent educational experiences.”

Though Dr. Axel is deeply engrossed in the sciences now, he was particularly inclined toward American Literature and basketball as a teenager. When asked about his favorite class, he replied, “I was particularly fascinated by literature. The great old three-piece suited teacher named Lowenthal taught me American Literature, something I've stayed with my entire life. I minored in English at Columbia, followed this interest in American Literature, and still maintain it.”

Dr. Axel also played basketball during his time at Stuyvesant—but, he claimed, he began to play more because of his height than his superior athleticism. He explained, “I was starting center because I was tall and most of these boys were shorter.”

Nonetheless, Dr. Axel enjoyed the game, and has fond memories of his time on the team, including one particular exhibition game. Dr. Axel recalled that the opposing team’s starting center was about seven feet tall, but the significantly shorter Axel had to guard him. He said, “For the first seven to 10 minutes of the game, he scored 18 points, and I didn’t get to touch the ball […] I was wearing thick glasses, and he had a wingspan of about 20 feet!”

After finally getting the ball, Axel tried to maneuver several times but couldn’t. That was when the starting center said, “What you gonna do, Einstein?” This tall stranger was none other than Lewis Alcindor, A.K.A. Kareem Abdul Jabbar, one of the greatest basketball players who ever lived. But Dr. Axel’s favorite part of this story took place much more recently: “I met him at a dinner about 5 years ago, and I recounted the story to him. And he looked down at me, and he said, ‘I don't remember,’” Dr. Axel said.

Axel reflected on what had become of the two since that high school game. “Here he was, a man who went on to become perhaps the greatest basketball player ever, and I went on to become a neuroscientist. Who, I asked, had the greater degree of ecstasy?” he said.

Dr. Axel revealed his unending gratitude to Stuyvesant for teaching him more than what would later become his major. “Not because of the science, but because [Stuyvesant] taught me the value of knowledge and learning, the excitement,” he said.

Falling in Love with Science

Dr. Axel realized that he wanted to pursue science in 1967 during his college years, when scientists discovered that the gene was made from DNA. Smiling, he recalled, “Experiments from others, people far brighter than I, that this magical substance called the gene actually was made of DNA.” His fondness of the memory reveals his initial spark of curiosity that is visible in his work today.

“DNA consisted of a sequence of only four component bases, and the information contained within a gene was encoded by that sequence. So there had to be a code. So you could decode the gene,” he continued. “And it was at that moment in ‘67 that the genetic code was being deciphered. It was so exciting to think that one could actually read the information of the chromosome. And it was that I think that sent me over the edge.”

To this day, Dr. Axel remains appreciative and humbled by the field of science. “I don't have any regrets going into science. Science has been very good to me. I have the greatest job in the world because I have freedom. I get to do what I enjoy.” This job includes continuing his extensive research of the olfactory system as well as teaching and studying alongside students at the Columbia University Medical Center, where his lab is based.

Winning the Nobel Prize

Dr. Axel won the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for answering the question of perception: “How is it that you could recognize and identify this vast universe of chemicals that we define as odors? With a chromosome that consisted solely of perhaps 20,000 or 30,000 genes, how could you possibly identify the universe of odors, which is a much larger number?” He and Buck were able to answer this question by conducting a series of experiments on mice. Through the experiments, they determined that about six percent of the human chromosome is dedicated to encoding odors.

When Dr. Axel found out he won the Nobel Prize, he didn’t believe it at first. He got the call around 3 o’clock in the morning while in San Francisco with his then-fiancée, now-wife. “She said, ‘It can’t be true; it must be a friend of yours just pulling your leg,’” he said. However, after checking the Nobel Prize website, he and his wife finally believed he won. “So that's how much confidence she had in me,” Dr. Axel said, laughing.

However, despite his achievement, Dr. Axel never forgot who he was. “It’s a marvelous experience; you go to Sweden, and you're treated with such respect, and you’re a star for a week. But, the important thing is to remember who you really are: you're a scientist. You were a star because you took so much pleasure in the doing of science. So, it was a great experience, but you can’t let it dictate who you are.”

He took out an unassuming box and opened it, showing us his Nobel Prize. After a few minutes of looks of pure astonishment on our faces, he laughed. “It came in a nice box,” he said before placing it into a cabinet and proceeding to tell us his plans for the future. Though he is genuinely grateful for an acknowledgement at such a level, he expressed how at the end of the day, he is just a scientist, and there is always more work to be done.

Looking Ahead

When asked about his plans for the future, Dr. Axel replied instantly with a renewed vigor. It was clear to see that he was truly a scientist for the sake for knowledge and not fame.

“We understand how it is that every one of perhaps millions of odors has unique representation—an identifier in the brain. But the question we are now trying to understand is far more complex. That is: ‘How is meaning imposed on representation of neural activity?” he said.

He is eager to explore this new question along with the opportunity to share the process with the next generation, his students at Columbia. He explained, “It’s particularly nice to share a Nobel Prize with one of your fellows or students.” Dr. Axel not only shares the credit for his work with others, but also insists he has very little to do with the progress made; he shared his Nobel Prize win with Linda Buck but insisted, “She did it. I didn’t do anything. She succeeded in identifying the receptors through a very, very clever series of experiments. I won’t detail them, but they were really clever. I was impressed.”

Dr. Axel can’t wait to get closer to solving the puzzle he’s spent his career studying and to work on it with today’s brightest young minds. “I’m older, and I can address these more esoteric problems that may take a very long time to understand,” Dr. Axel said. “So my students will understand if I can help them to move in the right direction. It’s a problem for the next generation.”