In this first interview of two, William Firshein discusses topics including: his childhood during and in post-Depression era Brooklyn; growing up in the tight-knit Jewish community in Brooklyn; the effects of WWII on his life and upbringing; studying at Brooklyn College as an undergraduate (1950s); studying at Rutger's university as a graudate (1953); being drafted as a military policeman during the Korean War; subsequently working at a laboratory during the Korean War; influence of assisting Curtis Thorn; influence of colleagues and mentors Werner Braun and Ernst Caspari; working at Rutger's Institute of Microbiology; working in the biology department at Wesleyan; receiving tenure at Wesleyan; working with colleauges Vince Cochran, Ross Gortner, Hubert Goodrich and John Morrill