“It would be an honor if you could be my advisor.” That was what I told Fred six years ago. It still is and will ever be. (For the record, upon hearing the flattering words, he smiled and said, “We will see after we finish this project.”)
As anyone who has gone through a PhD should know, the relationship between a student and his/her advisor is, for the lack of a better word, complicated. The student, out of deep respect for the advisor, has a constant desire of proving him/herself to be smart; the advisor, out of deep love for the student, has an occupational habit of setting the bar even higher. I definitely felt the pressure during my PhD years with Fred, whose towering achievements only made it sometimes overwhelming. Fred had such a reputation as a tough advisor that when the Chief Scientist of my company heard that I was his student, he congratulated me for having “walked the fire”. As someone who has honorably “walked the fire”, I would like to share you the things I have learned from Fred.
The first thing I learned is patience. Students usually underestimate the hard work behind glorious publications and are eager to tell the world what a beautiful seashell they have found, even if it is tiny. Fred was a perfect antidote. Instead of publishing small improvements, he always encouraged us to work towards something big. Like an experienced fisherman, he would not bother with small fishes so that he could concentrate on catching big ones. I have to admit that it wasn’t an easy lesson but the more I grow up, the more I appreciate this life lesson and am glad that I have learned it sooner instead of later.
The second thing I learned is good taste. In research, Fred always preferred real-world problems to, in his own words, “Olympic sports”; in methodology, Fred always preferred mathematical frameworks to engineering hacks, whenever possible. I believe a good taste not only is a key to his success but also help focus his effort on things that really mattered. Fred had good tastes in life, too. He brought us the Rancilio espresso machine so that we could enjoy some real caffè. (No offense to American “coffee”.) We had lots of good memories about that machine. One of my favorites was that, in a weekly town hall meeting, Fred was seriously asking people to remember putting the group handle away after use when we all snickered at him, suggesting that he was the one who often forgot to do so.
Last but not least thing I learned is sense of humor. I know everybody has his/her favorite quote of Fred and we can spend a whole day here just to collect them all. (One of my favorites: “If you build a reputation of saying outrageous things, people will forgive you next time you say something outrageous.”) To me, Fred’s sense of humor not only made him a great person to work with, but also showed how much he enjoyed what he was doing. It was inspiring.
Let me conclude with a quote in Chinese:“今当远离，临表涕零，不知所言”，which roughly translates to, “Now I shall bid farewell to you. I cried in front of this letter and couldn’t remember what I had written.”
November 4, 2010
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