It's not often we get juicy gossip about the personal lives of top scientists here at Wired Science. So I hope you'll indulge me for a second: Genome researcher J. Craig Venter, 61, is engaged to his longtime publicist, Heather Kowalski, who I'm guessing is in her 30s. (I met her once in 2001ish and that's my best guess.) 40. The engagement sure does explain why Kowalski was so defensive about my recent post about Venter's apparently healthy ego.
Matthew Herper casually drops the bomb in his excellent Forbes article (also about Venter's ego). Apparently the engagement wasn't a huge secret; rumors have been circulating for a while. But as far as I can tell this is the first time it's appeared in print (has anyone seen it elsewhere?)
The article does not suggest that Kowalski had anything to do with Venter's 2005 divorce from Claire Fraser, also a renowned genetic researcher and Venter's former colleague at The Institute for Genomic Research. Fraser actually remarried just a few months after the divorce, Herper writes.
For anyone who is bored by my E!Online-style gossiping, the Forbes article is well worth reading for more previously-unpublished information about how Venter's "Great Man act" has played out among scientists who have worked for him at various institutes.
Hype in Genes [Forbes]
