Stuck inside

President Jimmy Carter and Bill Gates were on the UW campus yesterday for the Foege Building dedication. I wanted to atted the event and hear President Carter speak, but alas, I'm not a VIP and was not permitted in the exculsive tent where the festivities were to be held. For us junior faculty, relegated in a class with the "general public", we were permitted to watch the event on video in the Genome Sciences Auditorium. At least they had HD video. I arrived 1/2 hour before the start, and the room was packed, but luckily I found a seat in the sixth row on the far left side of the auditorium.

The dedication proceeded nicely with a well-done introduction to President Carter by Bill Gates. Mr. Gates' foundation paid for 1/3 of the $150 million, 5-story genome sciences and bioengineering building. This earned Mr. Gates the right to have the building named after him, but he chose rather to name the building after his friend Dr. Bill Foege (FEY hee), a graduate of UW, who was the primary player in the world-wide eradication of small pox. Dr. Foege traveled to every corner of the globe to deliver the small pox immunization. He later directed the Center for Disease Control and the Carter Center, striving to eradicate other debilitating diseases such as guinea worm and river blindness. Dr. Foege also played a key role in the evolution of the Gates Foundation dedicated to global health.

President Carter's speech was outstanding. He is a truly gifted speaker. Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, President Carter is a great man, and the bulk of the great work came after he left the office of president. I was bummed I could not sit in the tent and see him, but enjoyed video of his speech. At the conclusion of the speech, the University President reassured the audience the tent was certified to 50 mph winds. I knew the weather was a bit rough, rainy and cold, but did not realize there was a full force gale roughing up the tent. Dr. Foege began his speech. A few sentences in, the tent, held down by 50 lb. chunks of concrete, lifted off the ground and landed with a loud bang. Secret service agents rushed to protect President Carter. Dr. Foege stopped his speech, looking a little nervous. There was talk. They announced the speech would move inside to the auditorium.

A few moments later, the coordinator came into the auditorium and announced, "Would the people in the first 5 rows please vacate to make room for the Carter and Foege families." I had considered moving up, but decided against it. I was in the 6th row. A few moments later, in walks President Carter, Bill Gates, Bill Foege, their families and several secret service agents. All of us were delighted to see President Carter and rose to our feet with applause and cheers when he entered the room. Dr. Foege gave his motivational speech and they cut the building ribbon. I had the best seat I could possibly have. What a blast! Carter left right away, but I stuck around for the reception. I ventured into the Genome Sciences Cafeteria to hear traditional Chinease music, beautifully done by music majors to provide a better atmosphere. I found a program of the dedication on a table in good condition. Then, I noticed Dr. Foege was still there, and had walked away from his family for a moment, so I had him sign the program, a perfect momento.

Photo by John Lok of the Seattle times. See the Seattle Time article including NPR audio about the event.