Ada Levy Olins

I was born in Tel Aviv (British mandate Palestine), far from Woods Hole and far from Science. When I was 8 years old, our family immigrated to the USA, to reunite our Berlin based family, which had been dispersed by WWII.

Much of my education took place in New York City public schools, including a BS in Chemistry from CCNY. I obtained an MS degree from Harvard in Basic Medical Sciences and a Ph.D. from NYU in Biochemistry.

Most important in my life is the life partnership and scientific collaboration with Donald Olins. Our scientific interests have brought us to Woods Hole many times and allowed our children and grandchildren to become an integral part of the Woods Hole community.

Our Woods Hole connections are many and I will only mention a few.

My first visit to Woods Hole was when I was a junior in High School and visited a friend who had a summer job at the MBL. I was immediately enchanted by the fog rolling in, on what is now the sundial. I came by train from Grand Central Station.

My next visit to Woods Hole was to attend a Scientific Meeting. This time I was traveling with Don and our new baby, Josh. At that time Don and I were post-docs at Dartmouth Medical School, working with Shinya Inoue and Peter von Hippel. It was then that we established another strong Woods Hole connection, with Czuli and Eve Szent-Gyorgi.

In 1980 Ken Van Holde asked us to teach in the Physiology Course, a dream come true, but it was not to be. Don was awarded a Humboldt Fellowship and we spent a year in Heidelberg at the German Cancer Research Center; we were not able to come to Woods Hole. The seed was sewn. I believe we have come to Woods Hole every summer since then. Our son Josh worked in the labs at MBL as a teen, and our son Barak (Bucky) was an assistant at the CSS. Josh and Naomi got married on Gansett Beach (1994). Their children, Jasmine and Yacob are assistant and runner, respectively, at the CSS this year (2014). Barak and his wife Mimi often visit Woods Hole with their children, Talia and Emile.

Some summers we rented a lab. Often I worked at the electron microscope in the Central Microscopy Facility (so well run by Louie Kerr). Both Don and I have always loved the beautiful library in Lillie.

Another interesting connection to Woods Hole is by way of the institutions, where Don and I did our Ph.D.s. My thesis mentor was Robert C. Warner, who commuted to Woods Hole on weekends during the years I spent in his lab. Don is a graduate of the Rockefeller University, which has amply populated the Woods Hole community and provided many of our closest Woods Hole friends.

"Happy Summer" is now the common greeting when friends meet upon returning to Woods Hole in June. Happy summer indeed to all of us lucky creatures, who come back to a community in which scientists and artists are welcome and embraced.