Jacqueline Barton: ‘I want to focus on the good stuff’

My dad was a Supreme Court judge in New York, and mom was a homemaker. She was originally from Belgium and always had a very thick accent. She could speak more languages than I can count, it was really quite incredible. We came from different times, so she didn’t really understand my interest in having a career.

I always will be a New Yorker. I spent the first half of my life there and still consider myself from New York City, even though I’ve lived in California for over 30 years. I can hail a cab anywhere in the world, quickly. If there are no cars within sight and it’s a red light, I will still walk across the street. I’m not going to change, it’s the way I am.

I didn’t take chemistry in high school, not until I went to college. But I loved math and I loved science, and so I just moved in that direction, and it was just fine.