Correction: Professor Newcomer was falsely said to have studied to be a psychologist, it has been corrected to him having studied to be a psychiatrist.

This year, one of FAU’s very own scientists, Professor John Newcomer, has been recognized by the Thomson Reuter’s list of The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds in 2014 as one of the 15 most influential scientists to come out of Florida.

Newcomer is a physician, but had studied to be a psychiatrist. He graduated from Stanford University and went out to study the world of neuroscience where he was continuously funded in his research for 20 years. Now he has been a part of FAU for over 20 months and is already sitting at the position of executive vice dean of the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine.

Throughout his years in the field of science, his main study has been on the topic of neuroscience. More specifically he has studied mental diseases and memory disorders, primarily schizophrenia. In studying these he has discovered that there is a link between the medicines used to treat these disorders and the onset of diabetes.

After speaking with him, it is obvious his fame comes with the research he has done.

In the scientific community his research has a “high-impact factor,” which means that his work is extremely influential. His work and research is so renowned that it has been cited by aspiring scientists who have done research projects on neuroscience.

Professor Newcomer was not too surprised that he was on the list, but he seemed pleased about it in his interview. When asked why he thought that his name was added to this list, he said that “It’s a combination of doing good, high-quality work, as well as working in an area with great scientific interest.”

At the end of the interview, we asked for his list of the most influential people in his life. He said that it was very hard to claim that any one person was better than the rest. Everyone who has mentored him has greatly influenced his work and research, making him the man that he is today. Before we ended, he left us with one final thought.

“As you are developing your scientific or professional career, you are going to have a series of mentors in your life and they are there at different times doing different things … It is really important to seek out those mentors, not only to help you with professional decisions, but to help with whatever field that you are in. It is important for FAU students at this early stage to begin identifying their early mentors.” –Professor John Newcomer.