FSU Nobel Laureate Walk

The current Nobel Laureate Walk on FSU’s campus proudly boasts scientists throughout the university’s history who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Unveiled in October 2008 on a walkway between the College of Medicine and the Department of Psychology, the bronze sculptures form a collection of some of FSU’s greats. The six busts each live on their own concrete stand with an associated plaque describing their contributions to their field and the university as staff members. The current busts contain the faces of Konrad Emil Bloch, Robert S Mulliken, John Robert Schrieffer, James M. Buchanan, Sir Harold W. Kroto, and Paul Dirac. 

 

Bob Bischoff was the driving force behind the creation of this memorial for FSU’s Nobel Laureates, having constructed many recognizable works for the Tallahassee campus such as the stained glass windows of Dodd Hall, the Kissing Bench, the two seals at the bottom of the Landis Fountain, the various cement seating surrounding the Westcott Fountain, and the Doak Campbell Stadium tribute window to Coach Bobby Bowden. Working as the Program Director and Master Craftsman for FSU’s Legacy Walk, Bob established the Master Craftsman Program in 1999, which has its own studio location on West Gaines Street and a variety of opportunities and internships for FSU student artists. 

 

In partnership with artist Melinda Copper, the Master Craftsman studio cast and molded the six bronze busts and their concrete bases for the celebratory bridge as a part of the “Science Legacy Walk.” Copper and her husband Bob have been the sculptors for numerous works across FSU’s Tallahassee campus, such as the life-size bronze figures of Albert A. Murphee and T. K. Wetherell.

 

The busts took over five years of work and collaboration and were unveiled by Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Lawrence G. Abele. To show off the then-shiny new busts, Abele held a ceremony with students from the special Master Craftsman Program at the Psychology Building, which was a new addition to the campus in 2008. Though the Master Craftsman Studio has no available written record of the casting or creation of the busts, an FSU News article from February 2009 exhibited the busts in the school paper to introduce the memorial to students.