Barry Potvin, Ph.D. has been a mainstay of the Biology Department at Yeshiva College for nearly seventeen years. Potvin is an associate professor of Biology at Yeshiva College and a visiting professor of Cell Biology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (AECOM). Potvin earned his B.A. from Brandeis University and his Ph.D. in Genetics from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, under the tutelage of Harry Gooder, where. Potvin’s primary research was in bacterial genetics. Currently, Potvin is working with Dr. Pamela Stanley at AECOM. Their present research involves determining the role of carbohydrates on the surface of the cell membrane and how this relates to the immune system, to the growth of cancer cells and to the general development of the cell. In addition to his 17 years of service to YU, Potvin has been an esteemed member of the AECOM staff for eight years.

Although his stature is unassuming, his mind is piercing. When one experiences the jolting lectures of Dr. Potvin, one can only marvel at his wealth of knowledge and the speed of his delivery. Potvin attributes his teaching method to his undergraduate Molecular Biology professor. While describing this professor, Potvin remarked that “this teacher was a sadist!” Potvin recalled that the professor would begin the semester in a very disconcerting manner. Shortly into the lecture, students began to notice that several obvious mistakes were being made. The students justified the mistakes of the teacher thinking it was they who erred. Several moments later, the professor astounded the class by calling them names and insulting their intellect. The professor then exclaimed that he expected the students to find his mistakes, and in this way he engaged the class in active learning. As the semester progressed the students became more involved in the class, learning not only a body of knowledge, but a method of thinking. The final obstacle of the semester was an exam that did not test the knowledge of Microbiology per se, but the application this science in the research world. The tests were given without a time limit and the students were told that the test should take between ten minutes and five hours. This, however was only the beginning of the misery. The test, several pages long, consisted only of results from experiments. The students were then expected to develop a theory from the newfangled data. As the last page approached students began to sigh in relief, however the final instruction was to deliver the test to the professors office. Once the student had made the delivery, he/she would receive another test sheet with the answers to the first section, and was asked to develop new experiments to test these hypotheses. Potvin stated that it was the unique style of this professor that gave him the skills he needed to conduct scientific studies as he exclaimed that “nothing could have prepared me more for life in a research lab.” Despite this experience, Potvin laments his inability to fully prepare students as his professors had, but claims that with the dual curriculum of Yeshiva College time is sparse and these conditions do not allow for full implementation of these interesting teaching techniques.

Nevertheless, Potvin feels that the dual curriculum molds the minds of Yeshiva College students. Potvin stated that he believes that the dual curriculum is one of the reasons for their competitiveness with top students from other universities. Potvin explained that, “the AECOM staff believes that [Yeshiva University] students are competitive, and come to medical school equally prepared to those students from top universities.” According to Potvin, the one area which needs improvement is our student’s writing skills. Potvin also noted that most students entering medicine from Yeshiva University are science majors and hence, have a weaker background in the humanities. However, Potvin does maintain that these students come fully prepared in the sciences. In his opinion, although the majority of students from other universities are humanities majors and are more qualified in worldly skills, they are not as qualified as YU students in the advanced sciences required in medical school.

In order to improve the education of Yeshiva University students Potvin has charged the school to build new labs which will use the latest in technology and have the ability to utilize the art techniques in scientific research. Also, he hopes that professors will be given more research opportunities so that they will be able to provide students with means to become more involved in research. Dr. Potvin does have positions available in his laboratories in AECOM for summer research, but he wishes he could offer more.

Discussing his own personal decision regarding research, Potvin said, “I was convinced to enter Genetics after my undergraduate research with Charles Fulton. Together we designed several new drosophila [fruit fly, i.e. a primary research tool for geneticists] experiments, and it was through him that I decided to go into Genetics.” Potvin believes that Genetics is a new and exciting field and encourages students to enter this discipline. However, Potvin has qualified this advice by stating that “you had better get a second job!” as he mused over how the lack of funding for research is permeating all areas of higher study. Potvin also warns that in the future many ethical problems may occur. However, he does not believe that these problems should impede research, rather he believes that legislation should prohibit the use of genetic information by insurance companies and employers to discriminate against any person.

During his seventeen years on the YU campus, Professor Barry Potvin has become one of the most popular biology professors in the university. While describing Dr. Potvin, Yehuda Burns said, “They don’t come much better than Potvin. He is very interesting and is obviously well versed in the sciences.” During the semester his students can be seen entering Belfer Hall at very strange hours of the evening. These young scientists are perpetuating the discipline of genetics and biochemistry taught to them by Dr. Potvin.