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162 AN T I OC H CO L L E G E C L A S S O F 19 6 5 5 0 t h A N N I V E R S A R Y B O O K S T R I C H A R T Z STRICHARTZ GARY R. THEN AND NOW 4 B.S. Physics 4 Ph.D., Biophysics, University of Pennsylvania 4 A.M., Harvard (hon.) 4 M. Div., Andover Newton Theological School FAMI LY 4 Wife, Linnea Löf 4 Daughters, Leah, Ariel, Nina 4 Six grandchildren ADDRESS 4 2 Carlisle Ter. Natick, MA 01760 CONTACT 508 647-4042 or 617 365-1094 gstrichartz@partners.org gstrichz@zeus.bwh.harvard.edu M Y P R O F E S S I O N A L L I F E is in transition now as I slowly end my work of the past 40 years as a labo- ratory scientist and segue into the next phase, conducting clinical re- search on pain and serving as a hos- pital chaplain. Antioch was such a positive ex- perience in my life. I had opportuni- ties to teach on a one-to-one level, both as the teaching assistant in physics and as a tennis instructor, among the most fun and gratifying academic experiences at Antioch. At graduation I knew that I wanted to continue in such an open and welcoming community, and with the opportunity to always be learn- ing, so I went immediately to grad- uate school in biophysics, to earn the Ph.D. that would qualify me to teach at a small liberal arts college. (Amazing now to realize how naïve I was about academic politics and the realities of which most students are ignorant.) In graduate school, how- ever, I was shanghaied by the lure of “discovery” and found out that finding out new things and working at the edge of ignorance was more stimulating than anything I’d imag- ined before. Although my doctoral research was in photosynthesis, I switched to studying nerve mem- branes, ion channels and drugs, then anesthesia, more recently struggling to understand the factors that con- tribute to the onset and persistence of chronic pain. For 30 years I “professed” at Harvard Medical School, but retired from regular lecturing several years ago. During that time I guided six graduate students through their dis- sertation research and mentored more than 40 postgraduate fellows and residents. I also was a coauthor and mentor for student authors in two medical textbooks, one on car- diovascular disease and another in principles of pharmacology. These are used widely in medical educa- tion and friends from decades ago contact me to ask if I’m the same guy who wrote those books—this happens more often if you have an unusual name. So I did find ways to teach, and still do in new ways, and this continues to be most rewarding; thanks to Antioch for starting me on that path and to the professors like Vern Cannon, John Dawson and Jud Jerome, who modelled good teach- ing for me My interest in pain is not re- stricted to an academic, intellectual curiosity but has been extended to a concern and caring for those who are suffering.That passion led me to study at Andover Newton Theological School (ANTS) to earn a master of divinity degree. The community and the relationships at “ANTS” evoked many memories of Antioch.While taking courses about Unitarian Universalism (my adopted religion for the past 20 years) I was delighted to learn that Antioch had been a recognized institution for ed- ucating progressive ministers, many of them Unitarians,men and women, since the mid-nineteenth century. Graduate work in theology might seem a far cry from biophys- ics, but science and “progressive” religion have some notable simi- larities. For one, both activities are expressions of a search for under- standing, of the very human attri- bute of curiosity. I gained a deeper appreciation of my scientific quests, and their career-bending evolution, when I was in theological school. In science we never addressed the question of epistemology, how we know what we (think) we know, but it’s so central to our understand- ing of ourselves and the universe. And in chaplaincy, with its call to be fully present with another, to lis- ten compassionately and respond gently, truthfully, one can’t escape the realization that our knowledge feels along at the growing edge of ignorance. I didn’t understand what I knew until I faced all that I did not know. Science might occasionally render one humble, but ministry al- A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z