I’m one of Josh’s graduate students. Perhaps the most I have learnt from Josh in the past was not during our discussion on scientific journal articles or writing paper, but the way he lived.
He lived an example of what a scholar should be. He was always reading, whether it was New York Times, or Nature. You seldom saw him eating by himself without grabbing something to read. The diverse collections of literatures he had on the bookshelf can prove it. He was always curious. He attended to seminars whether they were relevant to his work or not. Once he told me that he even went to a discussion group about UFO by himself in his neighborhood in Brewster. He was so amazed at how people thought they really saw UFO. He liked me to argue with him when we discussed science. In my early days in the lab, he liked to keep me staying late until I figured out what he wanted me to learn. Sometimes, he just sneaked out without saying goodbye so that I would keep working on those things.
He was the kind of mentor who doesn’t like to tell you what you should do but to locate the resources that you would figure it out on your own. He inspired me to question the assumptions surrounding us whether it was a common view in history, science, politics or daily lives.
"The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. " ~ William Arthur Ward
Josh, you have been and you will always be an inspiration to me.
Caren Sheng
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