Benjamin Widom, Professor of Chemistry emeritus, sketches his career in science starting from his years in Stuyvesant High School in New York City, followed by his undergraduate years at Columbia University, then as a Ph.D. student with Simon Bauer at Cornell followed by his time as a postdoctoral associate with O. K. Rice at the University of North Carolina, and finally his return to Cornell as a member of the Chemistry faculty. Although he then never left his position at Cornell, he took advantage of leaves on many occasions to work and study in The Netherlands, England, and France. He is interviewed by his close contemporary Jerrold Meinwald.