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44th annual Dorcas Cummings lecture held at CSHL

Cold Spring Harbor Lab

Named lectures are rare at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), and the annual Dorcas Cummings lecture is one is our oldest and most prestigious. It commemorates the life and work of Dorcas Oakley Cummings, a long-time resident of neighboring village Laurel Hollow. In the 60s and 70s she was involved with many organizations devoted to preserving the special character of this part of Long Island. She was a staunch supporter of the Long Island Biological Association, the predecessor to the present-day CSHL Association Board, the group of neighbors and friends who do so much to support this institution.

When Dorcas Cummings died in 1976, her family and friends created an endowment to fund a lasting memorial. This took the form of an annual spring lecture intended to convey to the community surrounding the Lab the excitement and importance of biomedical research. The first lecture was given in 1978 and, except during the pandemic, there has been one every year. The Dorcas Cumming lecture is a highlight of the annual Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Symposium and the invited speaker is a participant in that meeting. And because Symposium’s scientific theme is different every year, and the invited attendees are the world’s leading specialists in that field, Dorcas Cummings lecturers have been outstanding scientists across many different specialties.

A tradition developed around these lectures, and for more than 50 years Association Board members and other friends of CSHL have hosted dinner parties in their homes for participants in the Symposium. These dinner parties follow the Dorcas Cummings Lecture and are an important part of the Symposia. They provide an opportunity for the scientists to experience the hospitality of the Laboratory’s supporters, and for the latter to interact with and ask pointed questions of scientists.

This year we celebrated the 44th Dorcas Cummings lecture, and we are grateful to the wonderful friends of CSHL who hosted the twelve simultaneous dinner parties that followed the 2023 Dorcas Cummings lecture. We look forward to continuing this special CSHL tradition for many years to come.