Jason Altom (6 October 1971 – 15 August 1998) was an American PhD student working in the research group of Nobel laureate Elias James Corey at Harvard University.
Altom was studying a complex natural product and felt enormous pressure to finish the molecule before starting his academic career.
His case prompted many US universities to insist that PhD students have an advisory committee in addition to a supervisor, to whom they might turn for support: James Anderson, who became Harvard Chemistry Department Chairman, stated that "Jason's death prompted an examination of the role the department should play in graduate students' lives".
Anderson went on to promise that students will also have "confidential and seamless access" to psychological counselling services, paid for by the department.
[4] The collective bargaining agreement also forces the university administration to disclose mental health resources to the union.