When Nobel Prize-winning scientist Randy W. Schekman took the stage at the Oregon Nobel Laureate Symposium at Linfield University, he didn’t start with his research or even his award. He started with a toy microscope.
Speaking to a captivated audience of Linfield students, McMinnville community members and local science enthusiasts, Schekman shared how that childhood gift — and a drop of pond water — sparked a lifelong fascination with biology.
“I saw an explosion of life,” he recalled. “I was blown away.”
Held April 10–11 across Linfield’s McMinnville and Portland campuses, the symposium is a showcase of scientific thought and inspiration. This year’s featured speaker, Schekman is the winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He delivered a keynote Thursday night to an at-capactiy crowd, tracing the arc of his career from curious kid to global scientific leader.
From curiosity to career
Though he originally intended to pursue medicine, Schekman’s path shifted during a freshman chemistry class at UCLA. It was a turning point that led him into cellular biology and, eventually, groundbreaking work on how cells transport proteins.
His message to the Linfield community emphasized the power of unexpected detours.
“You don’t always end up where you think you’re going,” he said. “But if you follow your curiosity, you’ll find where you’re meant to be.”
Now a professor at UC Berkeley, Schekman used his visit to Linfield to reflect not just on past discoveries but on the urgent challenges that lie ahead.
A personal fight against Parkinson’s
Schekman spoke passionately about his current focus: Parkinson’s disease, which he called a growing pandemic. The issue is personal — his wife battled the disease and, in his words, “suffered terribly.”
“In 200 years of studying Parkinson’s, nothing has been discovered that changes the progress of the disease,” he said. That sobering reality led him to become chair of the Scientific Advisory Board for Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP), a collaborative research initiative backed by philanthropist Sergey Brin and The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.
Through ASAP, Schekman is working to reshape how science gets done. Rather than siloed labs chasing individual recognition, ASAP supports teams that openly share data, protocols and results — what he likens to open-source software development.
“Basic science is great,” he said. “But the reward structure for academic science is about the individual. Collaboration is how big problems get solved.”
Science in action at Linfield
Throughout his time at Linfield, Schekman met with students from across the university’s science programs, as well as hundreds of high school and community college students invited to campus. The symposium’s unique structure allowed Schekman to connect directly with students, answering questions about research careers, ethical challenges and how young scientists can contribute to meaningful change. He ended the event on Friday discussing Parkinson’s with students in Linfield’s School of Nursing.
“I predict in the next decade we’ll be able to map the entire neural network in the brain,” he said. “In the next five years when I’m done, I expect we’ll be able to identify targets to meaningfully affect [Parkinson’s] disease.”
For the next generation of scientists — some sitting just a few feet from the stage Thursday night — Schekman’s story served as both roadmap and rallying cry.
The Oregon Nobel Laureate Symposium is part of Linfield’s ongoing effort to connect students with the world’s leading minds in science and medicine. The last symposium was held in 2023 and featured physicists William D. Phillips and David J. Wineland. Learn more at linfield.edu/nobel.
