By Li Han

Staff Writer of the Tsinghua News Center

Nobel Prize winner Professor James Watson was named a Tsinghua University Honorary Professor on October 27. He also spoke on "Science in Ten Ways over 60 Years" to the Tsinghua Forum.

Tsinghua University Council Chairman Chen Xi attended the award ceremony and presented the letter of appointment to Professor Watson. Tsinghua Vice President Xie Weihe was also in attendance at the ceremony.

The lecture hall was packed with excited students, who greeted Professor Watson with warm applause as he made his entrance. During his one-hour speech held by Vice Director Dr. Shi Yigong of Tsinghua’s Institute of Biomedicine, Professor Watson talked about ten major events in the past sixty years of his life, including how he learned to do science at Indiana University, how he uncovered the Double Helix with Francis Crick at Cambridge University, and how he worked with graduate students at Harvard University to learn how proteins are made on ribosomes. Professor Watson also reflected on his role in getting the Human Genome Project started. He shared his experience of success with the students.

James D. Watson and and Francis Crick, together with Maurice Wilkins, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1962 for their discovery of the DNA double helix model.

Tsinghua University President Gu Binglin met with Professor Watson prior to the talk.  

(Photo by Guo Haijun and Cui Kai)