"The striking feature about Mayer is that he always makes an effort to stop students and initiate a conversation," sophomore Tom DiGiovanni said. "I haven't seen this in any other master."

Esmeralda Santiago, a senior in Dudley, said, "If you ever need a favor, he will do it for you. He makes himself more available than any other master."

With a little hesitation, Nicholas Koch '77 admitted, "He's sort of like a father."

Mayer agreed that he does like Dudley House. "I can spend an almost unlimited amount of time on this place. That part of the job which involves listening and talking to people can take 24 hours a day," he explained.

"I think he really enjoys being master," said Marquand, who has worked with him for six years. "Unlike some people who are reluctant to be master, he wanted the job. One of the reasons for this was that his son, Andre, had been chairman of the House committee."

Betty Mayer said that her husband finds Dudley "invigorating" because he is not often with people the age of undergraduates. Four of Mayer's own children are in their twenties and his youngest son is 15.

Dudley House members including their master, annually scale Mount Monadnock in New Hampshire. According to house legend, Mayer challenges the students to reach the peak before he does and every year he's the first one to the top. Mayer laughed when asked about this story. "I'd despair about the general health of the population if out of all those students, there wasn't somebody who could get there before I do. But," he quickly added, "I did finish well before a number of students."

Although Dudley is the largest Harvard House with all its members non-residents Mayer feels it is very cohesive because of the large number of activities it offers. According to Marquand, Mayer is responsible for many of these activities. In addition to a weekly open house at his master's lodging on 53 Dunster St., Mayer gives many parties at his house for student groups. He has also developed an extensive House course program.

A small House course that Mayer started several years ago has since grown to include 300 students and is now offered as Nat Sci 128, "Nutrition." Until Mayer introduced this course, there were no basic nutrition courses for undergraduates.

"Jean is a really solid bridge between the School of Public Health and the college. A number of us here have seized upon the wedge he made into the Faculty of Arts and Sciences to try to introduce courses there," Public Health School's Gershoff said. "It's given me an opportunity to deal with undergraduates for the first time."

Mayer's style of teaching is appreciated on both sides of the river. Gershoff said, "Jean is a good teacher in everything that the word implies. He knows what he's talking about, has a feel for student needs, and gives interesting lectures."

Sophmore Joanne Saia described his lecture style: "He keeps my interest very well which not too many people do. Maybe it's because I like his accent. He tells a few jokes, but he keeps his lectures sane."

Mayer maintains a lab at the School of Pablic Health. His research has centered on obesity and the regulation of food intake. He is his discovery of how the amount of glucose in the blood affects hunger. But his scientific work has not confined him to his laboratory. Like his father, Mayer believes that scientific research should be transformed into action. "Jean has been particularly good at combining his scientific knowledge and the results of his research with program needs both in this county and abroad," Gershoff said.

Mayer is a prolific writer. In addition to about 650 articles in scientific journals, he has written several books. His latest book, "A Diet For Living" was published last month. "It's the first completely non-technical book I've written and I have no idea whether I've succeeded," he said.

Approximately 30 million people read his nationally syndicated newspaper column. He began the articles four years ago when he realized that he could reach people more easily by writing an educational column than by sittng on endless committees discussing how to educate the public about nutrition.