In Appreciation for the SAMA Award
At the Anril 1975 meetine of the American Chemical Society in Philadelphia, the ~ d i t o of r this Journal received the American Chemical Society Award in Chemical Education sponsored by the scientific Apparatus Makers Association. This is the most distinguished of all prizes in chemical education, and it is one of the most sought after of all ACS awards. For these and many other reasons, my receiving this award is a most cherished honor. Therefore, I beg the indulgence of our readers while I take this opportunity to express in writing some dimensions of my appreciation and some thoughts that I found difficult to reveal in the oral presentation that followed conferring of the award. Perhaps these are best conveyed by describing how I became interested in chemistry and how I reacted to various challenges along the way. While my interest in chemistry and in chemical education must have begun in high school, i t was intensified and crystallized into a definite career commitment during my freshman year in college. The features of chemistry that attracted me most strongly were its pervasiveness, its practicality and its heauty. I was awed by the scope and power of chemical knowledge, and I could see or imagine how it had enabled or could enable us to understand not only the material world around us hut the world of living things as well. I could see and sense the incredible usefulness of this knowledge-more so even than mathematics or physics-in sensibly exploiting nature to make a better life for all. Most of all, I was bewitched by the magnificence and beauty of the ideas, concepts, methods and the panorama that had been created by fitting them together. I knew that each piece of the puzzle that constituted this panorama had been added by the arduous, failure-dominated, but mostly brilliant, efforts of generations of workers, and I was aware that the picture was both imperfect and incomplete. Still, it was beautiful, and its splendor continued to unfold. My teachers had done a good job! I had hut one overpowering urge: to tell this story so that others could see the panorama. My concern as a student was to prepare myself to tell the story accurately. Graduate school meant learning as much as I could in as many areas as possihle. Research was interesting, hut never primary. Where and whom I would teach also were secondam. How I would teach became of interest as I watched faculty members with distinguished records and incredible knowledee disnlav variouidegrees of skill and apathy before the; clasdes Bnd in personal encounters. At no time in my formal schooling did I give any thought to the problems or the development of students themselves. And, while I realized in graduate school that my interests and attitudes made me something less than a true chemist, I was so obsessed with the mission that the issue of where or whether I would fit into the profession or into academic life never bothered me. After entering academic work, I soon realized that keeping a job meant a good deal more than simply telling the intriguing tales of chemistry. In the early years, I did not realize what a disappointment and threat I was to colleagues, many of whom, knowing little of my true inter~~~~~~
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speaking ests and inclinations, expected me not only to dedicate mv enereies and abilities lareelv - .to develo~inea nroductive research program, hut also to share and support without hesitation the conventional values and priorities in academic chemistry. To their great credit and with very few exceptions, however, they tolerated me and my professional hang-ups, and permitted me to teach and work with the undergraduates. I am genuinely and sincerely grateful for their generosity. Without i t I could not have continued in academic work. Over the years, the feeling of not having done my duty in research has intensified, hut I never have felt that my path was any easier than that of my colleagues whose primary interest was research. While I would be remiss and hypocritical if I did not say that I continue to disagree strongly with conventional values and priorities in academic chemistry, particularly those that make good teaching obsolete or of negligible importance, I could never claim that I was prevented from doing my job by those who held opposing views. Throughout all my work there was a sizeable number of colleagues who constantly encouraged me and, to greater or lesser extents, sustained and buffered me from forces that could have been destructive. In more than a few instances individuals did this a t considerable personal risk to themselves and with little more to gain than my gratitude. To these colleagues and friends I owe a debt I can never repay. For the most part, student response to me and my teaching has been especially good, even though it took years before I realized that many students had to put forth herculean efforts to grasp and appreciate what I was trying to say. It also took years for me to recognize what other teachers must have discovered far earlier in their careers, namely, that many students worked very hard in my classes, not because they appreciated chemistry or because they realized how it could he useful to them in the future, hut largely because they had faith in me. Somehow, they had the idea that what I expected them to do and to he was worthwhile. Hence, they were willing to work diligently and virtually blindly, acting on this faith. Realizing this both frightened and challenged me. But i t has led to my finding in my work with students more personal fulfillment than in any other aspect of my professional life. I wish there were a way to express to the many thousands of students I have touched, the depth of my appreciation for this privilege. I write these things mostly because this is the most direct way I know to express my appreciation to those who have made it possihle for me to pursue my interests in chemical education in a profession where education is not always viewed with empathy. I write also in the hope that chemists as a group, and academic chemists in particular, might recognize the great importance of developing and nurturing those among them who have interest and talent in telling the chemistry story. And I write to remind those who have dedicated themselves to chemical education of the great opportunities, responsibilities and joys that make our days full and our work fulfilling. WTL
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Volume 52. Number 5, May 1975 / 281
