Schatz Goes to Albany THE SAME MONTH AS THE BIKINI test, July 1946, Vivian graduated from the Women’s College. Uncle Joe bought Schatz a secondhand car, and the young couple made their way to Albany, in upstate New York, where Schatz would start his new career as a civil servant employed by the state’s Department of Health. Robert Clothier, the president of Rutgers, gave Schatz a farewell letter expressing his “sense of regret” that Schatz was leaving. “It has been a source of great satisfaction, both official and personal, to have had you associated with us and I hope that continued success and happiness will be yours.” Schatz was pleased to have the letter even though he realized it was mostly a formality. A more genuine letter came from a member of the staff of Plant Pathology, who recalled that Waksman, “in the presence of several others,” had said, “Schatz was the most brilliant student I ever had.” It was said “in all sincerity.” But there was no farewell letter from Waksman himself, and Schatz had not expected one.
