From the "Friends of Feinberg" newsletter

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By Paul Battone, M2

Dr. George Flouret, PhD, is professor of physiology at Feinberg. His teaching skills have merited awards from students and the school’s administration.

Dr. George R. Flouret, PhD, is professor of physiology at the Feinberg School of Medicine. In the 2007-08 academic year, he received the George H. Joost Outstanding Teacher Award (as voted on by students from the first and second-year classes) for his efforts in teaching basic science. In 2009, he received the Dean's Award for Teaching Excellence.

Where does your story begin?

It began in South America! I was born in the city of Rosario, in Argentina, and I graduated from high school there before moving to New York to attend university at Columbia.

At what point did you decide to become a scientist?

Early in high school, I had a magnificent chemistry teacher. I picked up the subject very nicely, and I even began to study biochemistry a bit, which was extremely interesting. The subject was in a very different place at that time! Nobody knew the structure of cholesterol or how carbon dioxide was converted to glucose in plants. Then I studied medicinal chemistry at Columbia, and I had the chance to study more and more biochemistry, as well. 

Did you come to Northwestern after your time in New York?

No, I had many years before coming here! After completing my master's degree in New York, I moved to Madison, Wisconsin, to work on my PhD. It was one of the best choices I have ever made. For me, Wisconsin was the beginning of the end of the world.

What do you mean by that? Was it beautiful?

Oh yes, it was beautiful, but it was just such a wonderful change. Life in New York was very difficult while I had to support myself. I did not have a typical college life. But when I moved to Wisconsin, I had work as a teaching assistant for biochemistry classes and an instructor for the summer organic chemistry courses. That is where I began to form my teaching style. I was an original in the way I taught; I gave problems in every lecture so that the students would know what I thought was important. I still do that in my endocrinology lectures today!

How did you end up at Northwestern?

Well, I eventually became an assistant professor at Wisconsin and then moved back to New York to work at Cornell's medical school, where I did research with a man who won the Nobel Prize for elucidating the synthesis and structure of peptide hormones, which became the subject of my life's work! And when I moved to the suburbs of Chicago to work at Abbott Laboratories, I was part of the team that proved that hypothalamic releasing hormones exist. And some people didn't believe us!

And then you came to Northwestern?

(Laughs.) Yes, after six years there, I came to Northwestern. I became a member of the physiology department, and the very thoughtful chairman at that time began easing me into lecturing one hour at a time. I taught all kinds of classes; I taught for the nursing school, which has now closed, and the dental school, which is also closed... I hope the medical school will not close!

The Dean's Award for Teaching Excellence highlights the efforts of faculty members who apply their teaching and mentoring skills in a variety of settings. In 2009, Dr. George Flouret (3rd from left), professor of physiology, was one of the award recipients.

Have you learned anything from your students?

Of course, I've learned how to teach! Working with different students in different schools meant I was teaching at many different levels; it also meant I had many different criticisms! I am a frustrated historian, and I always wanted to include the histories of the hormones in my lectures... the students did not like that. Students also don't like graphs. A graph can teach you everything about a hormone! But everyone became happier as I deleted them. I would say that the faculty in general pays a lot of attention to the students, although, sometimes I look at their syllabi and I wonder. (Laughs.)

What changes have you seen here over the years?

One key is computer literacy. The students are fabulous; they are so quick, so good, so knowledgeable at computers! I am always asking my guru at home—my wife, that is—about all my problems with my computer, but the students are always off and running as soon as we sit down in [Problem-Based Learning]. I am always impressed. Of course, I have used PowerPoint for my lectures for a number of years now, which has helped me a lot, although I always brought my overheads to class out of fear until recently. It did happen once that the computer failed, and there was a full auditorium. Then I was glad to have my transparencies. What if the computer fries in an electrical storm? I will still give my lecture!

How do you feel about teaching these days?

I like teaching. I'm a walking PBL case. I have high cholesterol, hypertension... The students discuss this in class, and I'm thinking, What is my blood pressure, again? Oh, yes... will I get a stroke? Will I get a [myocardial infarction]? I enjoy hearing what the students have found out about the various conditions, and I will say that the quality of the students' learning issues is getting better and better.

You mention your health concerns, but I know you're a big sports fan...

Well, yes, but I look less and less like Jimmy Connors every day. (Laughs.) Now I only play tennis when my knees allow it. When I was in Wisconsin, we would play touch football and softball in the evenings, soccer on Sundays... I loved it. In a world of sports, I thrive. I even found that I like American football better than soccer! The inevitability of the line moving toward the goal is just incredibly interesting to me. Of course, I played soccer as well; I was in the German-American League in New York, and I played for a German team in Wisconsin, although I'm not German. I was very speedy in soccer, and I went all over the field and drove the defenders insane. I played everything, even basketball.

And what do you do in your free time now that you don't play as much football?

Oh my God, I must have one to two thousand books on my reading list. Every time you read a book, you find that you should read five more. As I said, I am a frustrated historian, and I love historical novels: Gone with the Wind, Doctor Zhivago, Nicholas and Alexandra... I love Henryk Sienkiewicz's trilogy on the partition of Poland. I read quite a bit on economics and politics to understand what's happening, although I never succeed! 

Does your wife share your interest in history and politics?

Yes, she was studying International Relations at Wisconsin when we met. In fact, the conversation at home is usually about politics and economics, and we are always drawing the lessons of history into our dinnertime discussions. We also love to travel together.  Sometimes we go abroad when I have international meetings, and I have been back to South America. I wouldn't mind living and dying in Florence, though; it's the most incredible place. But then I have been to Rome and been awed, and my mother was born in Venice, which is also incredible. There are also so many places in the United States that I have not yet seen, too, like the Grand Canyon. And my mother-in-law says that I have to go to Charleston, South Carolina... I'd really love to spend three, four weeks in New England... of course, that leaves out the rest of the world! I'll never have time to do all of the things I want to do, but I certainly hope to do some of them!

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