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Still a Beautiful Mind – and an Inspiring West Virginian

Editor’s note: Nobel-prize winning mathematician John Nash and his wife were killed in a traffic accident May 23, 2015. This profile from 2013 is part of our series, “Inspiring West Virginians.”

The 9^th floor of Fine Hall, the math building at Princeton University, is a place some people call the mathematical center of the universe.

Here you’ll find the office of 84-year-old John Forbes Nash, Jr., one of the greatest mathematicians of the 20^th century.

One whole bookshelf in Nash’s office is lined with photos of his hometown, Bluefield, West Virginia. Nash left the state more than 60 years ago, but clearly it’s still important to him.

“This is my high school in Bluefield,” he said, sharing the picture of his 50^th high school class reunion. “I’m in the corner here.”

Over his lifetime, Nash has sought and solved some of mathematics’ most difficult problems, in ways that have amazed other mathematicians, all while overcoming great trials.

In 2001 Ron Howard made a film about Nash called “A Beautiful Mind” starring Russell Crowe. It won the Oscar for Best Picture. The film and the book on which the film is based tell the story of Nash’s meteoric rise in the mathematical world, his early career teaching at MIT, his sudden descent into severe mental illness, and his ultimate recovery.

John Nash’s story begins in Mercer County.

“My mother had been born there, and she had sisters,” Nash explained. “I had only one sibling – my sister – and that’s a special relationship.”

Martha Nash Legg remembers Bluefield as a lovely place to grow up, and she describes her brother as studious.

“I guess today we’d call him nerdy!” she said. “His friends were also bright. He liked science fiction.”

“And he was musical. He is musical – to the extent that he can whistle Bach!” laughed Legg.

Nash says he was quite aware that he wasn’t close to people other than relatives.

“I guess I’m a little like an Asperger’s type,” he said. “I didn’t have very strong friendship relations generally. I wasn’t just a buddy of the group.”

Even as a little boy, Johnny, as his family called him, was drawn to mathematics.

“I did have a taste for numbers. In school I liked to work with larger numbers than we were taught to use, 5 digits rather than 2 or 3,” Nash remembered.

He points to Men of Mathematics, by E.T. Bell as a book he read as a child that really influenced him.

“He’s an American,” said Nash. “The book was inspiring in the way it talked about the mathematical discoveries and what these people had done.”

Nash was particularly intrigued by the 17^th Century French mathematician, Pierre de Fermat. As a 14-year-old, Nash succeeded in proving Fermat’s Theorem.

After high school he went to Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh. In just three years he earned a bachelors and masters in mathematics. One of his teachers recognized Nash was a mathematical genius, and encouraged him to go to Princeton University for a PhD.

At Princeton Nash’s dissertation was in a field called game theory. At the time it was a relatively new concept that explains human behavior.

His main contribution to game theory – which later became known as the Nash Equilibrium – has been used in a wide variety of fields, from economics, to foreign policy, information technology, and evolutionary biology.

Nash also solved a few very, very difficult problems in pure mathematics.

And he did it in a way that still inspires young mathematicians, including Dejan Slepčev, associate professor of mathematics at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

“Nash’s papers are very brief and have many ideas in them,” said Slepčev. “It’s not just one idea that solves everything but at every step there is a new idea and yet there is the whole picture of how everything fits together.”

“So that is the beauty of the thing,” he said. “So if you speak about the beautiful mind, then it must be the mind which is able to store so many new ideas together at the same time.”

At the height of this brilliant young mathematician’s career, John Nash developed paranoid schizophrenia, a severe mental illness.

For more than 25 years he had delusions about who he was, who other people were and messages he believed he was receiving.

He wandered the campus of Princeton University, writing on blackboards and whistling Bach to himself. He became known as “The Phantom of Fine Hall.”

And then, without medication, he started to get better.

One morning in 1994, a few years after Nash returned to what he calls rational thinking, Legg says an amazing thing happened.

“The radio was on in the bedroom. And I heard them say something about a Nobel Prize Award in Economics, and I thought they said, ‘John Nash in game theory,’” Legg recalled.

“And it brought tears to my eyes thinking how much my parents would have loved to have heard that.”

The Nobel Prize changed John Nash’s life. Princeton University gave him a job, and he received further awards and honors.

The man who was almost forgotten was invited to lecture at universities throughout the world.

Today Nash continues to tackle difficult problems in mathematics and economics at Princeton University.

“Well, it’s not unusual to work to 70, maybe 75, but now I’m 84. I could go to 90!”

John Nash, who rarely gives interviews, is featured with others in the West Virginia Public Radio documentary Inspiring West Virginians, produced by Jean Snedegar with Senior Producer Suzanne Higgins.

Integrated Behavorial Health Conference tackles drug abuse, other mental health issues

West Virginia’s substance abuse problem is one focus of the Integrated Behavioral Health Conference in Charleston this week. Professionals from health…

West Virginia’s substance abuse problem is one focus of the Integrated Behavioral Health Conference in Charleston this week. Professionals from health care, government and law enforcement are meeting to find the best ways to handle substance abuse and other mental health needs.

Department of Health and Human Resources Cabinet Secretary Karen Bowling said the idea of the conference began a couple years ago and that the goal is to combine resources in hopes of learning and progressing the field.

“Whether it’s medical professionals, policy makers, law enforcement –we all go at the idea of behavioral health services and substance abuse from a different angle. Bringing individuals together with expert speakers and continuing education credits and really making sure we’ve covered the full gamut of individuals who are dealing with our citizens who are in need of behavioral health services will help us think more collaboratively,” said Bowling.

Governor Earl Ray Tomblin outlined a few collaborative efforts to combat substance abuse in an opening keynote speech, which touched on regional drug task forces, prescription disposal centers, and the justice reinvestment act from this past legislative session. He also announced a $9 million grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration that’s been awarded to the state.

“Over the course of five years these federal monies will help expand prevention services state-wide by focusing on prescription drug and alcohol abuse,” Tomblin explained

The Deputy Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Michael Botticelli, participated in the opening panel discussion at the conference. He said the emphasis on prevention and other collaborative efforts can in some way be attributed to an evolution of perceptions surrounding substance abuse and addiction.

“I think under this Administration we’re really looked at and moved away from this 'War on Drugs' mentality and really focused this issue as a public health-related issue—acknowledging that substance abuse is a disease and that people can get treatment and do recover. One of the issues that is really important to us is how we make sure people are getting good care,” said Botticelli.

Clinical Assistant Professor of Marshall University’s Pharmacy School Brian Gallagher said getting quality care that combats substance abuse means all corners of the health care industry need to be involved, including pharmacists and pharmaceutical companies.

“Everybody has a component in this and I think the part in dealing with the pharmaceutical industry is that they’re recognizing that they don’t want their drugs taken off the market. They don’t want it to be so restrictive that the patients can’t get access to those drugs,” said Gallagher.

“We need to make sure we strike an appropriate balance: the patients who actually need the drugs are able to get them while we’re keeping them out of the hands of the people who abuse them. It’s striking that balance that’s important and working with the pharmaceutical industry and every body involved.”

Asked what type of costs might be associated with potential changes in policy, Secretary Bowling said the state will first look for other grant opportunities. But, she expects any spending in the short term will inevitably save the state money and hopefully will reduce health care costs for individuals.

“If we focus our attention on the right things for the people that we serve, in the long run it’s going to actually reduce costs to the system,” said Bowling.

“What we have to make sure we’re doing is thinking about the client in a holistic manner, that we are looking the physical and the behavioral aspect of care and making sure we’re doing the right thing, at the right place, at the right time.”

The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources is sponsoring the inaugural conference which runs through Thursday at the Charleston Civic Center.

Rooftop garden to play a role in Marshall’s storm water management

Marshall University’s college of science is conducting an experiment that they hope will help them in the future.

The Marshall University College of Science installed a green roof in a small space just off the second floor of the science building. It’s the beginning of an experiment that will illustrate what it will take to maintain larger green roofs on the biotech building on campus. That building is being constructed. It’ll also play a role in Marshall’s continued effort to better handle storm water.

Chuck Somerville is the Dean of the College of Science.

“This is a demonstration, it’s a small area and it’s not going to have a big impact on storm water on campus, but it’s in a visible place and people can come by and see it and we can put up signage about what a green roof does and how it works,” Somerville said. “So we can get a lot of educational bang for their buck, rather than storm water treatment or storm water retention.”

It’s a process that has been several years in the making. Somerville said after seeing facilities out of the state that were using the idea, they thought they should try it on the science building.

“We’ve had to go to a company that produces the plants and does the design and go through the design process and just growing the plants is about a 6 to 8 month project there,” Somerville said.

Eventually Somerville said the roof was ready for planting. They recently put in plants that include geraniums and irises. He said after going through the process of making sure the roof could handle the weight, water and soil, they now know what to expect at the new biotech facility.

“We have a green roof planned for the new building actually it’s going to be engineered into the structure so this was an add-on after this building was long since built,” Somerville said.

Biotech building in the process of being constructed.

Travis Bailey is an Environmental Specialist with the Health and Safety Department on campus. He’s tasked with helping the campus become more responsible for storm water. He said this is just one of the newer ways to deal with the water.

“A green roof is basically to capture the water and the let plants absorb it and if it doesn’t let it slow down and filter the water out, filter out the pollutants that are in the air, rather than that water going straight down the drain and potentially out to the river,” Bailey said. “It’s not being absorbed by the soils and filtered out, but for the most part we’re hoping that the plants will uptake and use most of that water,” Bailey said.

Huntington has a combined sewer system, meaning sanitary sewage and storm water runoff collect in the same pipes. Because of this the Environmental Protection Agency charges organizations like Marshall to collect the first inch of water for each building. So Bailey and others have started projects like the green roof, a rain garden and other means to collect this water all around campus.

Bailey said he hopes these projects show it’s possible to do these projects.

"And to show people a green roof is doable, it is not a mythical thing you hear about other cities doing," Bailey said.

“And to show people a green roof is doable, it’s not a mythical thing you hear about other cities doing, we’re showing that you can do it here, it can be done here and same thing with the rain gardens,” Bailey said. “People read about them or have heard about them and it’s like you can’t do it here, but we’re trying to show that it can be done here and we’re gearing up to do some more hopefully.”

Bailey said green roofs also can have a positive effect on stopping ultraviolet rays from harming the roof.

Could a High-Tech Pseudoephedrine Product Slow Meth Production?

A West Virginia-based pharmacy chain is hoping to combat the illegal manufacture of methamphetamine by stocking a tamper-resistant form of the drug used…

A West Virginia-based pharmacy chain is hoping to combat the illegal manufacture of methamphetamine by stocking a tamper-resistant form of the drug used in its production.

Fruth Pharmacy, which has 27 locations in West Virginia and Ohio, announced it will begin stocking a drug called Nexafed. The tablet contains the active ingredient pseudoephedrine, similar to the popular brand-name allergy drug Sudafed.

But if an abuser tries to extract the pseudoephedrine out of Nexafed to make meth, it breaks down into a thick gel that thwarts production. That’s all thanks to a technology developed by Illinois-based Acura Pharmaceuticals.

Vice President of Marketing for Acura Brad Rivet said the product, which has been on the market since last December, is comparable to similar, more familiar drugs you may already have in your medicine cabinet.

“We’ve done a comparative study with the branded pseudoephedrine product to show that, in humans, the rate and extent of absorption in the bloodstream is virtually identical. So, the efficacy that people have come to expect with older drugs that don’t have this technology will be there for them with Nexafed,” said Rivet.

Fruth pharmacies will continue to stock other pseudoephedrine products that offer different dosages from Nexafed. The company plans to replace traditional pseudoephedrine products with the new drug as more dosages become available.

Lynne Fruth, president of the company that bears her name, admits the pharmacy may take a hit to its bottom line because of brand loyalty and those still managing to use pseudoephedrine for illicit purposes. However, she says it’s important the company plays a role in protecting the community.

“If they’re looking for the purposes of meth, they aren’t interested in buying this product. We’re having pharmacists tell us that when they say, ‘We don’t carry straight Sudafed except in the Nexafed’ then some people say ‘Well, I don’t want that stuff.’ Which, that tells us that’s probably not a legitimate purchaser of the drug,” said Fruth, who also chairs the board of her Point Pleasant-based company.

Lawmakers and policy makers try to address the growing problem in West Virginia

In West Virginia, 288 meth labs were seized last year. So far in 2013, authorities have seized over 300 meth labs, most of which were discovered in Kanawha County. In mid-May, The Charleston Gazette reported state police estimated that meth lab seizures for 2013 were on pace to double last year’s numbers.

Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito attended Fruth’s Nexafed roll-out announcement at the Lee Street location in Charleston. She suggested legislation that might curb meth production by requiring a prescription to purchase pseudoephedrine could be considered at the state level.

Lee Street Fruth Pharmacist Sam Arco explains the new product Nexafed as Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito and Lynne Fruth, president of the company, look on. The product contains pseudoephedrine but cannot be used in the manufacturing of methamphetamine.

“I think that’s something that’s been considered in the state and I think that’s something that, if the problem continues without a solution—or attempted solutions like the ones we’re seeing—I think that’s probably something that would be considered,” said Capito regarding a prescription requirement for the drug.

Currently only two states, Oregon and Mississippi, require a prescription for the purchase of products containing pseudoephedrine. In an op-ed from 2010 published in The New York Times, one law enforcement official from Oregon has said that tactic is translating to fewer meth lab busts.

Recent legislation passed in West Virginia keeps all products with pseudoephedrine behind the counter and puts a cap on the amount allowed to be purchased or posessed. Sales of the drug are tracked and customers must also show identification for purchase, yet Lee Street Fruth Pharmacist Sam Arco noted that meth manufacturers often outsource the purchase of pseudoephedrine to others known as “smurfs.”

“The monitoring method doesn’t really take care of everything because I can buy a box, Congresswoman Capito can buy a box and Lynne can buy a box. All of the sudden we have three boxes out there. We don’t know where it’s going. You just don’t know that all of the time,” Arco explained, hypothetically.

Even despite the use of the National Precursor Log Exchange tracking system, known as NPLEx, West Virginians are still purchasing traditional, potentially meth-yielding pseudoephedrine products at a rapid pace. About 40,000 boxes per month of the sinus medication have been sold so far this year, according to data from the state pharmacy board.

Such high sales and skyrocketing lab busts brought Del. Don Purdue (D-Wayne) to ask Attorney General Patrick Morrisey to investigate manufacturers of pseudoephedrine. The Beckley Register-Herald recently reported that Purdue intends to revisit a bill that would require a prescription for the drug.

Are smaller, independent pharmacies the key to curbing meth production?

Fruth said past the monitoring system and any legislation on the books, the ultimate decision lies in the hands of those working behind the counter.

“It is totally at the pharmacist’s professional discretion to decide if they’re going to sell pseudoephedrine. One of the things as a local family-owned company, you tend to know your customers and a lot of our pharmacists will often opt if it is somebody from out of state or a customer who is not known to them,” said Fruth.

Rivet said Acura has intentionally targeted smaller pharmacies around the country like Fruth because of their heightened ability to influence consumers.

“We started with independent pharmacies because the pharmacist at that level is obviously aware of the need in his community and they see the need for a product like Nexafed,” said Rivet.

“Because they’re their own decision makers, they can immediately choose to put Nexafed in and start stocking it and recommending it, unlike a chain pharmacist who sees the same needs—they have to get headquarter approval before a product is brought in. So, we started with the independent pharmacies, especially those in those high meth-awareness states.”

Rivet said Nexafed is currently available in over 1,400 pharmacies nationwide.