Mario Molina Interview (page: 7 / 8) Nobel Prize in Chemistry	Print Interview

What mystery would you like to explore now? What would you like to achieve that you have not quite reached yet?

Mario Molina: I certainly want to continue trying to understand how the global environment functions. The earth as a system is a very complicated one. And to understand it, we need very many disciplines, very many different scientists working together. I want to continue working with my specialty, which is chemistry, with the atmosphere. There is still much to learn about chemical reactions that occur out there in the air, in the atmosphere. So one of my projects now is to really learn more about this pollution that occurs in cities and that is spreading more through the globe. To learn it in enough detail so we can better tackle it, we can better come up with new ways of using energy, for example, that are not so damaging to the environment.

Many people have brains and potential. Why do you think you succeeded where others did not?

Mario Molina: Perseverance is part of it. Much of it is perhaps luck. I was lucky to be able to pursue this passion that I had to do scientific research, and to have some very good colleagues, very good mentors. That's why I also have a passion for education, to work with students -- with my students, and others as well -- and to try to make it possible for them to also have some great findings that will benefit us all.

The German poet Goethe's last words were: "More light." After a long life, as one of the great writers and thinkers of his day, he seemed to be calling out for more information, more enlightenment. Did you get that same feeling after making these discoveries? That you yourself wanted more light, more information?

Mario Molina: Very much so. One of the frustrating aspects of being a scientist is that you want to learn more and more. There's just no time, unfortunately. We can't do it all. But I wish I could really continue learning how the world functions. Perhaps that's why I try to do it through my students. I try to get an overall feel for the big system, for it's a very complicated one. That's why it's essential that we collaborate among scientists and also with people outside the scientific world.

How do you inspire students to follow in your footsteps, to achieve this higher enlightenment?

Mario Molina: Perhaps one way is really just by example. We do research together. We find out some aspects of nature, some aspects of chemistry, that are unknown. And it's perhaps through example, by actually doing research, that I can best communicate this. And of course, lecturing. I also try to communicate the importance of these problems. In the end, of course, we have to keep in mind that it's important to do very high-caliber science, and to preserve our integrity as scientists -- honesty and all these qualities that we like to communicate to students. So there's no single, simple recipe, but perhaps just by example is one of the best ways to do it.

What personal characteristics do you think are most important for success, regardless of what field someone chooses?

Mario Molina: I think you need to have a commitment, a passion to do whatever you are doing, as an activity that really consumes you. It has to be something important, something also that you enjoy, so that you can keep doing it. Something that transcends your own small world and has repercussions for all the people that surround you. But in my case, it's a true commitment to scientific research, finding out new things and hoping that they will benefit other people as well.

What do you think is the greatest challenge for the 21st century?

Mario Molina: I think the greatest challenge will be to maintain the world population that is growing in such a way they will continue developing without damaging the environment to such an extent that the quality of life will be degraded. So the greatest challenge is to somehow or other be able to keep a stable world, a stable world population, increasing the standard of living of so many people who are gaining in ways that are different from what we have done in the past. That will take a lot of creativity, and a lot of work for many groups to be able to achieve.

Looking back on your own successes and failures, and what you've learned over the years, what advice would you give young people just starting out in your field?

Mario Molina: The advice that I would give is try to find something that you like. Try to devote your energies to being very good at it. Try to achieve excellence. Don't necessarily have as a goal success or getting prizes or whatever, but just doing very good work. And work hard. Keep working at it. Be patient. Realize that you don't always see the benefits of what you're doing, short-term. But in the end, the activities that I do, for example, scientific research, can be extremely rewarding. It's really a very fascinating career.

May we ask, what does the American Dream mean to you?

Get the Flash Player to see this video. Mario Molina: What the American Dream means to me is that it's really a world of opportunities. I came to the United States, of course, as a foreign student, but you really have the same opportunities as any other student that was born here or not, and have the opportunities to access whatever was available in the system, and to participate in the functioning of the society here. For example, at the moment I'm a member of PCAST, which is a presidential committee of advisors on science and technology. So it's a group of people from the scientific world and from industry, and we advise the administration as to science policy and technology and so on. So it's something that I can do, even though I was born in Mexico. As a foreigner to begin with -- but of course very much so -- I was part of the American Dream, if you want, of actively participating in the way the society functions in this country. So it's really just a marvelous opportunity, this really openness, that the opportunity's out there, you just have to work hard. And of course, part of it is local, so you have to have some love to be able to achieve. But at least you know that it's open to everyone.

[ Key to Success ] The American Dream

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