Leaving “the best job on campus”

Little did Helen Tuck know what was in store when she heard about a job opportunity at Caltech back in 1971.

The theoretical physics group was looking for technical secretaries, who “type in all those equations that physicists use,” she said. Being an expert in the specialized skill, she applied—and for the next three decades found herself working with some of the best-known scientists in the world.

Tuck retired on May 10, her 75th birthday (“strictly coincidence,” she said). But as she and her husband of 50 years, Gordon, relocate to Lake Havasu City, Arizona, she’ll depart the Institute with a myriad of memories and friendships.

Her former bosses, Nobelists Richard Feynman and Murray Gell-Mann, used to stand in her office and argue about what “the old man”—Einstein—would say. When Steven Hawking was in town, Tuck made sure there was an office available. And at her retirement dinner, Robert Christy, Institute Professor of Theoretical Physics, Emeritus, gave her a card signed, “Caltech will not be the same without you. With regret.”

Said Tuck, “I’ve had a wonderful time working for Dr. Feynman and Murray. But I loved them all. This group has been wonderful, hardworking, kind, and fun—what more can you ask for? You’re really made to feel like part of the group, not just the secretary.

“Carol Silberstein [who is replacing Tuck] is a very lucky person. I have friends all over the world—I get e-mail from Sweden, Japan, you name it. People come for a year to do their research, and stay in touch. There aren’t many jobs like this around.”

Tuck retired from the same office in which she started, 452 Lauritsen, with a clear view of the San Gabriel Mountains. Her original chair will go with her; a photo collage of Feynman will be sent to Sandor Kovacs, a former graduate student and good friend of his.

Looking back at her years in the tight-knit department, she said, “I’m a pretty calm person, and nothing very traumatic has happened. But it was difficult to lose Professor Feynman and Professor [Fredrik] Zachariasen.”

Of Feynman, who died of cancer in 1988, Tuck said, “I had 10 years to get used to it after his first surgery.” But Zachariasen’s death from a heart attack in 1999 was a blow. “I talked with him the day before he died, and he had no inkling—he thought it was just asthma.” She adds, “Murray, thank heavens, is fine. He keeps in touch every now and then.”

Some of her fond memories were recently revisited in the play QED, based on Feynman’s life. In preparation for his role, actor Alan Alda visited Tuck in her office to get a sense of what the physicist was like. She saw the play twice and thought Alda “did a wonderful job.” Fondly, she recalled how the man she always called “Dr. Feynman” or “RPF” would hide in her office from pesky visitors, and play her file cabinets like bongo drums.

Although Tuck looks forward to settling in Arizona—finding a bridge club, volunteering, spending time with her son and her three dogs—her departure is not without mixed feelings. The very relationships that have made her work so enjoyable also make leaving bittersweet.

“I used to say I had the best job on campus, and I still believe it,” she said. “I will miss these people terribly.”
•