Maine Man Shocked At His Nobel Prize Win

A former University of Maine professor was shocked to learn of his Nobel Prize win!

According to the Bangor Daily News, former U of M professor Jeffrey Hall thought the call letting him know he won the award was a prank.  The call came in to Hall's Cambridge, Maine home at about 5 AM Monday morning.  The man, who said he was calling from Sweden, apologized for the early call and informed the 72 year old professor of his win.

Originally from New York, Hall spent over three decades as a researcher and educator at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts.  Moving to Maine, he briefly taught at the University of Maine before retiring. During decades of research, Hall and two colleagues, Michael Rosbash of Brandeis and Michael W. Young of Rockefeller University, worked with fruit flies to determine how plant and animal "biological clocks" work.

As most of the research was completed and published in the early 2000s, Hall was very surprised to hear of the impact the work had made.