Improbable Research

Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists™ Men and Women of the Year 2004/5

Outstanding heads of science

compiled by Alice Shirrell Kaswell, AIR staff

The Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists (LFHCfS) is proud to announce the selection of its Men of the Year and Women of the Year for the years 2004/2005.

This year the Men and Women of the Year come in sets of three.

The three LFHCfS Men-of-the-Year -- Falk Schuch, Andreas Linsner, and Kai Jung -- are chemists, friends and colleagues in the Frankfurt/Main area in Germany.

The three LFHCfS Women of the Year -- biologist Johanna Bobrow, biologist Laurel Bobrow, and electrical engineer Elisabeth Bobrow -- are scientists and sisters in the Boston area in the United States. Between them, the three Bobrow sisters have more than seven feet of hair.

(Click here to go to see the 2002/2003 Man and Woman of the Year)
(Click here to go to the LFHCfS home page)

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Men of the Year

FALK SCHUCH, MAN-OF-THE-YEAR
Falk Schuch is a chemist at the biotechnology company Zentaris GmbH. He studied chemistry at the Europa Fachhochschule Fresenius, University of Applied Science in Idstein, Germany, and did graduate work on perylencarboxylic acids, working in Prof. Müllen's group at the Max-Planck-Institute for Polymer Research, Mainz, Germany.
HOBBIES: He plays guitar in a group called 'Exlex'. He also collects fine Scotch whisky.
HAIR: He has magnificent, luxuriant flowing hair.

ANDREAS LINSNER, MAN-OF-THE-YEAR
Andreas Linsner is a chemist at the biotechnology company Zentaris GmbH. He studied chemistry at the Europa Fachhochschule Fresenius, University of Applied Science in Idstein, Germany, and did graduate work on tetraamines as intermediates for oligomeric surfactants in the group of Prof. André Laschewsky at the Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
HOBBIES: He loves buying books. He claims to own almost every book related to literature and philosophy. He is also a member of the German Schopenhauer Society.
HAIR: He has magnificent, luxuriant flowing hair.

KAI JUNG, MAN-OF-THE-YEAR
Kai Jung is a chemist at the biotechnology company Zentaris GmbH. He studied chemistry at Chemieschule Fresenius, University of Applied Science in Wiesbaden, Germany. He did graduate work on calix[4]arenes in Dr. V. Böhmer's group at the Johannes-Gutenberg-Univeristät Mainz, Germany, and then did further studies at Queen's University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, working in Prof. M.A. McKervey's group. He wrote his thesis on calix[5]arenes. He was a lecturer for organic chemistry and practical organic chemistry at the Europa Fachhochschule Fresenius, University of Applied Science in Idstein, Germany (www.fh-fresenius.de).
HOBBIES: He collects vinyl records, mostly of mid-60's to mid-70's (hard)rock and jazz music. He also draws comic strips.
HAIR: He has magnificent, luxuriant flowing hair.

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Women of the Year

JOHANNA BOBROW, WOMAN-OF-THE-YEAR
Johanna Bobrow is a staff scientist at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, working on the biology of pathogen detection for clinical and environmental applications. She got her S.B. in Brain and Cognitive Science from MIT in 1999, with a minor in biology. She worked in both Steven Pinker's and Elizabeth Spelke's labs as an undergraduate. [NOTE: Steven Pinker was the very first member of the LFHCfS.]
HOBBIES: She plays the violin, and knits and cooks.
HAIR: Her magnificent, luxuriant flowing hair is 49 inches long and is currently dark blue.

LAUREL BOBROW, WOMAN-OF-THE-YEAR
Laurel Bobrow is in the process of getting an S.B. in Brain & Cognitive Science at MIT. She has interned at the Schepens Eye Research Institute for the past four summers. working on behavioral studies of the navigational abilities of people with severe visual impairment.
HOBBIES: She writes papers for class, works on projects with the Alpha Phi Omega fraternity, and sings in concert choirs.
HAIR: Her magnificent, luxuriant flowing hair is 20 inches long and has always been dark blonde.

ELISABETH BOBROW, WOMAN-OF-THE-YEAR
Elisabeth Bobrow is an engineer for the aeronautical engineering firm BAE Engineering. She received her B.S. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in Electrical Engineering in 2004.
HOBBIES: She has hobbies.
HAIR: Her magnificent, luxuriant flowing hair is 20 inches long, and robustly red.

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