From High School Drop-Out to VP of Engineering [Premium]

There are some people who are so insightful into their cognitive processes that talking to them is pure gold. Gary MacGregor is one of those people – he’s a VP of an electronic device company and recent PhD recipient from the University of Texas at Austin. He has a remarkable story and has been very generous in sharing what he has learned. Gary: “I’m a high school dropout. My parents were high school dropouts. I’m the first male in the family to go to college.” When Gary dropped out of school, he took a job working an oil refinery – a lucrative career for a person without a high school diploma. While he was working 12 hour shifts 84 hours a week, he would exercise […]

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Marlon Brando, Dyslexia, and Method Acting [Premium]

There’s a new book out this year on method acting, and it mentions Marlon Brando, his mercurial temperament, his dyslexia, and his method acting. Apparently he had ambivalent feelings about taking one of the leading roles in A Streetcar Named Desire, and he was told to show up at the playwright’s (Tennessee Williams’) house in order to clinch the deal. After hitchhiking to Provincetown, he found Williams and his friends in the dark, occasionally getting up to go to the bathroom in the woods. Apparently, a fuse had blown and a toilet was broken and neither Williams nor any of his artist friends knew how to fix either. Brando immediately made an impression, fixing both, then reading for the lead character, Stanley Kowalski. Needless to […]

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Higher Math for Scientists: Don’t Give Up [Premium]

“…To be a successful scientist, you need to do what you like to do. If you don’t like mathematics, don’t give up. That doesn’t forestall you’re being a scientist at all.” — E.O. Wilson   One of the first science professors I had as a freshman at Harvard was E.O. Wilson, a pioneer of Evolutionary Biology, and scientific giant. I would only learn years later that he was also dyslexic, struggled with math, and was blind in one eye due to a childhood injury. He passed away in December at the age of 92, and left a legacy of insights on the natural sciences and the education of young scientists. One bit of advice that drew him into controversy was his strong insistence that “being […]

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Connecting the Dots with John Chambers of CISCO [Premium]

“A lot of leaders would say they’re curious. I can tell you from personal experience that most leaders are not. They don’t ask a lot of questions, rarely challenge conventional wisdom, stick with what they know, and often turn to sources that reinforce their existing point of view… my curiosity about things I don’t understand has been a critical factor in my success as a leader.” – John Chambers   I recently came across a book review of Chambers’ book by Emma Wallace, a fellow dyslexic who works in a very different industry, fashion. Despite these differences, Chambers’ description of strengths resonated.   “Not only has dyslexia meant that for John (and myself) it forced him to learn important skills early on: persistence, finding your […]

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George Church: Genomics Pioneer [Premium]

“Your genetics is not your destiny.” – George Church     Harvard Professor George Church was shaking things up 3 decades ago when he fathered the human genome project and put himself first in line to have his genome sequenced. The world knows a lot about him, including his dyslexia, narcolepsy, blood type, and even colonoscopy. He argued that the benefits of sharing personal information outweighed privacy concerns. “It’s all too easy to dismiss the future. People confuse what’s impossible today with what’s impossible in the future.” – George Church   George Church has done a lot of controversial things in his life and he’s continuing to do them, but what is not in doubt now is that he is at the center of some […]

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Eugene Matusov on Teaching and Motivation [Premium]

I recently discovered Eugene Matusov’s writings on motivation and agency. He is a professor at the University of Delaware and he is also dyslexic.   I found it interesting that he ended up choosing a career teaching other teachers and yet his early years seem to be fairly traumatic in school. He had some very bad learning experiences, but also good ones, and it’s clear that today, he remembers the good teachers that impacted his life and that the choices he made in his own career were influenced as much by the negative experiences as the positives. One negative experience that was shared involved a writing assignment that many of us are all-too-familiar with – “What I Did Over Summer Vacation.” Listen to Eugene tell […]

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The Many Faces of Actor Paul Bettany

I finally had a chance to catch up on Avengers: Infinity War so I could write an article on amazing Paul Bettany. Paul plays so many different characters so well that I often don’t realize that he was the same actor in so many different roles. After long being heard as J.A.R.V.I.S., Paul Bettany finally has a physical presence in the Avengers as Vision. These are very different roles from his characters in Master and Commander or even Margin Call.       From an interview in Digital Spy: “I was dyslexic so wasn’t reading as a child and fell through every educational crack there is to fall through. Books happened later for me. I was your average bullied kid sitting in his room plotting […]

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