I stayed after one of my classes to chat with the professor about immunology modeling (one of my interests), and somehow the conversation wandered to Nobel prizes, various famous mathematicians, the somewhat arbitrary nature of it all, and the National Academy of Sciences - which I didn't know included mathematicians.
Someone had recently asked him whether they should "get the ball rolling" for his admission to the National Academy. His response? Save that for someone who cares. These things, he thought, were good to recognize excellence, but in some ways were just ego-builders.
Then he chuckled. My wife was in the room at that time, and she could have thrown pots and pans at me for saying that.
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