809R Fall 2026 Behind the Prize...Nobel, That Is

It's all about Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, and the quirky characters who won, hands down, the most coveted prize on planet earth. We will start with Big Al as I like to call him, and how the prize came to be. It reads like a soap opera. Who is eligible for the prize, what are the rules and who decides? It's all spelled out in his will. The youngest recipient was 17 and the oldest 97. Three were dead and three were in the slammer. The awards ceremony itself is choreographed right down to the dress code. We will look back at some of the more colorful recipients and talk a whole lot of trash. Many people deserved a Nobel and never got it. There were also a great many who were nominated and never should have been. It's quite a unique group. There are steps that you need to take in order to win a Nobel (spoiler alert: being born a white male is a major advantage). We will finish with a round of Nobel Jeopardy, not to be missed.

Michele Romano is a family physician who retired in 2015. She attended Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine and held a faculty appointment as an associate professor of Clinical Medicine at VCU. She served on both the VCU board of trustees and the VCU health system board.