On March 23, 2016, Carolina’s two Nobel laureates, Oliver Smithies, Distinguished Professor of Pathology and Aziz Sancar, Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry & Biophysics meet with new UNC system President Margaret Spellings.
During President Spelling’s tour of Carolina, she along with Chancellor Folt took time to visit with the system’s only Nobel laureates, Smithies and Sancar. They learned that Smithies and Sancar are both halves of an academic team recruited at separate times to UNC. Smithies spouse is Dr. Nobuya Maeda, Distinguished Professor of Pathology and Sancar’s is Dr. Gwen Sancar, Professor of Biochemistry & Biophysics.
In the April 6, 2016 issue of the UNC Gazette, Smithies told Spellings that “I came on my wife’s coattails. She got an offer, so I asked if anybody was interested in me coming to Chapel Hill.” Sancar then added “Dr. Smithies, you may not know it, but I was on the search committee that recruited her [Maeda].” … “So I’m responsible for two Nobel Prizes.”
Read the full story from the UNC gazette: http://gazette.unc.edu/2016/04/05/listening-and-learning/