The Impresario of the Brain

"To understand man, we have to understand the brain."

If man ever succeeds in reaching this goal, most neuroscientists today agree that much of the credit will belong to the author of that statement, Dr. Francis Otto Schmitt, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Although he is a skilled researcher in molecular biology, Schmitt is best known in his profession as a scientific impresario. He is the founder, chairman and most enthusiastic member of the M.I.T.-sponsored Neurosciences Re search Program. It is from the work of this group that a comprehensive theory of brain function could well emerge.

Founded in 1962, the N.R.P. represents Schmitt's attempt to get science's "wets" (chemists) and "drys" (physicists) together to work on the mystery of the brain. The organization is a loose federation of scientists who are themselves connected with such prestigious institutions as the University of California, Germany's Max Planck Institutes and the National Institutes of Health. These researchers constitute the faculty of an "invisible university." Meeting regularly to discuss specific topics and staying in constant communication by letter and telephone, | they hope to accomplish together what none could succeed in I doing alone. Five of the N.R.P.'s ' 36 associates have won Nobel Prizes for their work in chemistry, medicine or physiology.

But merely being Nobel laureates entitles them to no special consideration in what the scientific community acknowledges is a tough outfit. A couple of Nobelists were transferred to consultant status when they became too busy to participate in N.R.P.'s demanding schedule of meetings.

The dean of this unique college is as impressive as the faculty. Born in St. Louis in 1903, Schmitt studied medicine at Washington University, published two papers in Science before his 20th birthday and received his doctorate in physiology* before going abroad for two years of study in England and Germany. He returned to Washington U., where he remained on the faculty until moving to M.I.T. in 1941.

Schmitt pioneered the use of X-ray diffraction and polarization optics to explore the inner workings of cells, and studied molecular biology before the term was invented. Head of the team that was first in the U.S. to use an electron microscope for studying biological tissues, he is also well known for his work on collagen, the clear protein material that fills the spaces between cells.

His research, which led to an understanding of how the collagen molecule is constructed, won him the coveted Lasker Award in 1956.

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A bulky (6 ft., 200 Ibs.) man with a prognathous jaw and bold forehead, Schmitt is an exceptionally articulate spokesman for his profession, promoting it in informal conversations and speeches that are remarkably free from technical jargon. "I believe the brain is knowable," he says. He is also an enthusiastic pianist and frequently entertains his friends by playing duets with his wife Barbara, a former concert pianist. Schmitt has a Teutonic dedication to hard work, moves at constant flank speed and, according to a colleague, has a tendency to "take every red traffic light as a personal affront." Asked at a recent 70th-birthday dinner if he planned to retire, Schmitt did not hesitate: "Not in the conventional sense of the word," he answered. "There are two meanings of this word, and to me, retire means to put new tires on the old chassis and get going again."

* He has since been awarded an honorary M.D. by the University of Goteborg.

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