UCLA psychiatrist Kenneth Wells recently presented an opera he composed about schizophrenia, "The Center Cannot Hold," on campus. Dr. Wells teaches human behavior at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine and is director of the Center for Health Services and Society at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. He's also a senior scientist with the RAND Corporation. Before participating in a UCLA/Zócalo panel discussion about the problem of homelessness in cities, he talked in the Green Room about playing pool as a kid, thinking about a grant proposal during an organ performance and meeting his wife while working on a cadaver in medical school.
What’s your favorite holiday?
New Year’s Eve.
What was the last meal you ordered?
Fish tacos.
You grew up in a musical Baptist family. What about gospel music moves you?
I was the one in the family moved more by classical music than gospel music. It was the passion — the marriage of idea, text, and music.
Do you find writing music helps you as a psychiatrist, or vice versa?
The operas I write are about the kind of issues I work on as a psychiatrist. The opera I’m putting on this year is about schizophrenia.
If you had to live outside of Los Angeles, where would you go?
San Francisco. My wife is in love with S.F.
Do you watch any trashy television?
My wife and I are watching "The Good Wife." That’s sort of in between.
Is it true you met your wife while you were both working on a cadaver in medical school?
We were in anatomy. It was a required first-year class. She was talking about a book I didn’t like and she loved, so we got in a heated disagreement.
If you could take up a new sport tomorrow, which would you choose?
I actually might want to return to a sport of my youth, which was pool. My dad used to have a pool table.
Where in Los Angeles would you take someone who has never been to the city?
Most people want to go to beach. I like the Malibu beaches.
When’s the last time you got nervous before going on a stage?
Sunday. I was substitute organist at my church. I was only somewhat nervous at first, but then I suddenly started thinking about a grant I’m preparing to submit.
This is running on the Zócalo Public Square website.