Reader's view: Dylan’s Nobel wasn’t first for Northland

The excitement surrounding Bob Dylan’s Nobel Prize obscured another recipient of a Nobel Prize from our area, this one for chemistry. Brian Kobilka, a 1977 University of Minnesota Duluth chemistry department graduate, was awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with a colleague (“UMD grad wins Nobel Prize,” Oct. 11, 2012).
Kobilka’s achievement called attention to the excellence of the UMD department of chemistry, where he initially trained. There is no finer place for a college student to learn chemistry anywhere than at UMD.
Both Dylan’s and Kobilka’s incredible achievements should make all of us proud to be from this part of Minnesota.
James W. Balmer
Duluth