Al Seckel - Other Activities

Other Activities

During the late 1990s, Seckel and rare-book dealer Jeremy Norman purchased, collected, and organized the original papers of many of the pioneers in the history of the development of molecular biology, so that these papers would be preserved together for scholarly use. At the time they were collected, the papers had no apparent market value and institutions were not interested in keeping the archives of their retired scientists. After the Wellcome Trust purchased the papers of Francis Crick for $2.4 million, Norman offered his collection for sale piecemeal through Christie's. Seckel brought forth a lawsuit against Norman and Christies to keep the collection in one piece. A settlement was reached where Norman through Christies was allowed to sell the collection in its entirety to preserve free access to scholars. Former colleagues and associates of Watson and Crick attempted to raise the asking price of $3.2 million so the collection could be donated to the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory where Watson and Crick had done their pioneering research, but were unsuccessful. The collection was eventually acquired by molecular biologist J. Craig Venter, who has said he will keep the collection at the J. Craig Venter Institute.

• Seckel is a member of the Edge Foundation, an international think tank.
• Seckel has been a member of the American Academy of Achievement.
• Seckel is one of the organizers and contributors to the Gathering for Martin Gardner conference.
• He has directed the X Prize Foundation (Ocean) and has served on the Board of the Pete Conrad Foundation.