At Cornell, my acting teacher said you cannot be religious and be an artist. I sort of got it, because faith is a comfort and art comes from a lot of places, in a lot of people, from the dark chasm.

I am a teacher, and I am proud of it. At Cornell University I have taught primarily undergraduates, and indeed almost every year since 1966 have taught first-year general chemistry.

But I spent just two calendar years at Cornell University, though it was covering more than three years of work, and then went to medical school and did become interested in psychiatry, and even helped form a kind of psychiatry club in medical school.

I was accepted into Cornell in 1979 and went there to follow a finance and business path. I ended up pursuing marketing and sales because I was selected by Procter & Gamble as an undergraduate candidate to go into its brand management program, which is typically available only to M.B.A. candidates.

I am a teacher and I am proud of it. At Cornell University I have taught primarily undergraduates and indeed almost every year since 1966 have taught first-year general chemistry.

But I spent just two calendar years at Cornell University though it was covering more than three years of work and then went to medical school and did become interested in psychiatry and even helped form a kind of psychiatry club in medical school.