First and foremost, the Bruce M. Alberts Papers offer insight into the life and work of Dr. Alberts himself, a pre-eminent scientist and educator. This collection also provides a view into the development of molecular biology in recent history, the politics of a research career in academia, and the teaching of science itself. These papers also reveal a collegial world of scholarly sharing and communication, of a network of scientists working at different institutions around the world cooperating with each other.

This collection documents Dr. Alberts's professional academic career from his early days at Princeton, to his arrival at UCSF, to his leave of absence from UCSF to assume the Presidency of the National Academy of Sciences in 1993. There is a wealth of professional correspondence (Series I): Alberts was a conscientious and courteous correspondent with his colleagues and students. Alberts's correspondents include many prominent scientists, such as Francis Crick, Freeman Dyson, David Baltimore, Arthur Kornberg, Barbara McClintock, James D. Watson, and Keith Yamamoto, among others. Alberts's carefully kept speaking notes (Series II) and teaching materials (Series III) reveal his meticulous work habits and dedication to his field.

Records documenting Alberts's professional activities date exclusively from his career at UCSF, and provide a glimpse into the working life of an academic scientist (Series IV). While this collection does not include Alberts's research notes or laboratory notebooks, it does contain records of his inactive grants and rejected grant applications, which do provide information about Alberts's scientific research (Series V). Finally, Alberts's personalia offers a look into the life of a busy and dedicated scientist, including his crowded appointment calendars from UCSF and his notebooks from his own student days at Harvard (Series VI).

Records regarding Alberts's tenure as President of the National Academy of Sciences will be held by the National Academy of Sciences.