As It Was and As It Is: A Half-Century of Progress

I am privileged to present the first John F. Enders Memorial Lecture. We honor the memory of an individual who was influential in the development of the science of medical virology as we know it today. I honor an individual who was my mentor, collaborator, and longtime friend ?a relationship shared with those of you in the audience who were fortunate enough to have spent a period in Enders' laboratory. For it was in the laboratory and in small group discussions that the charismatic attributes of Enders' personality surfaced. He had a unique capacity to grasp the significance of a new observation and to communicate his enthusiasm as he guided his associates in the exploitation thereof. His discussions in the laboratory were in the Zinsserian tradition; the subject material ranged widely, from contemporary politics to literature, history, music, and the arts, all interspersed with considerations of the scientific matters at hand.