Robert Finn's Résumé
A.B. 1977, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637. Biology major with a concentration in psychology. Dean's list three out of four years. Vice-president, Contemporary European Film Society.
Class of 1972, Canarsie High School,
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Class of 1969, Bildersee Junior High
School, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Class of 1967, P.S. 221, Brooklyn,
N.Y.
1980 to Present
Free-lance Science Writer, Editor, and Public-Relations
Consultant. I write feature articles, news stories, and reviews
for such periodicals as The Los Angeles Times,
Discover, Nature,
The Scientist (where I am a
contributing editor), Men's
Fitness, and Technology Review. I provide
public-relations consultation services for hospitals, schools,
non-profit organizations, and small high-technology companies. My clients have
included the Bienvenidos
Children's Center (Altadena, Calif.), the Anxiety Disorders Association of America
(ADAA -- Rockville, MD), and the University
of Redlands (Redlands, Calif.).
I manage newsrooms for scientific meetings, such as the ADAA's 1994
meeting. I'm a
seasoned interviewer and have numerous contacts nationwide in
both the news media and the scientific community. I have edited,
indexed, and written highly technical scientific material. I'm
familiar with many word processing programs and computer systems,
including those based on Windows, MS-DOS, the Apple Macintosh, and Unix,
and I am highly experienced in navigating the Internet and other online
services. As "cybrarian" for the National Association of Science Writers, I manage
the NASW's site on the World Wide Web: http://nasw.org
I am the author of two books:
Cancer Clinical Trials: Experimental Treatments and How They Can Help
You, O'Reilly & Associates, publication date August 1999.
Organ Transplants: Making the Most of Your Gift of Life, O'Reilly &
Associates, publication date January 2000.
1987 to 1992
Senior Writer, Science Writer Specialist, Office of Public
Relations, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA. I
was a spokesman for Caltech on matters ranging from gifts and
grants to earthquakes to scientific advances. I wrote press
releases, organized press conferences, maintained extensive
contacts with local and national media, and answered inquiries
from the press and the public on a wide variety of issues. I
helped supervise one full-time assistant and a number of
part-time, temporary, and work-study employees.
1987
Acting Director, Media Relations Office, California Institute of
Technology.
1985 to 1987
Writer, Engineering & Science Magazine, California Institute of
Technology. Wrote and edited feature articles on many areas of
scientific research and the scientists who perform this research
at Caltech. Assisted in all aspects of the magazine's production
including layout and computerized typesetting.
1980 to 1983
Applications Training Specialist. Beckman Instruments, Inc.,
Fullerton, CA. Wrote and edited instructional materials and
designed and taught classes on scientific and medical
instrumentation.
1977 to 1980
Teaching Assistant. University of California, Irvine.
Taught a laboratory course in psychobiology and led discussion
groups for the courses Brain and Behavior and The Biological
Basis of Behavioral Disorders.
1977 to 1980
Research Assistant. Department of Psychobiology, University
of
California, Irvine. Working with Dr. Gary Lynch, I devised
and performed experiments employing numerous pharmacological and
electrophysiological techniques. In one of these I studied the
effects of neuroleptic (anti-psychotic) drugs on the electrical
activity of rat brain tissue maintained in vitro. I prepared
reports of these projects that were published in refereed
scientific journals.
1977
Surgical Orderly. The Animal Medical Center, New York, N.Y.
1976 to 1977
Histology and Biochemistry Technician. Departments of Anatomy
and Medicine, University of Chicago.