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ALSO
IN THIS ISSUE In His Element College for Kids Parking 101 Go With the Flow Close Encounters Chancellor's Page Development News Factoids Newsmakers Accomplishments
of faculty and staff… |
A
distinguished chemist, Ed Alexander has been courted by large corporations,
but he stays in the classroom doing what he loves - teaching. Somewhere along the ever-changing path of scientific endeavor, though, Alexander steered toward chemistry, and students in the Mesa College chemistry program have been better off. “I studied astronomy as a child, but in high school, chemistry began to fascinate me,” Alexander says. “My field of study became organic photochemistry, which is the study of how light and radiation affect organic matter.” Alexander did undergraduate work at City of College of New York, then earned his doctorate at the State University of New York, Buffalo. He did a post-doctorate fellowship at Iowa State University, where he began serious study of organic photochemistry. Alexander taught at UC San Diego and Cal State Los Angeles, then joined the San Diego Community College District in 1982, where he was a mathematics supervisor for the BOOST program housed at the Naval Training Center. Alexander moved to the Mesa chemistry department in 1989, becoming chair in 1995. He has published 25 papers, and has served as a chemistry consultant for the federal government, private industry and in court cases. Alexander is the recipient of the American Chemical Society’s Distinguished Service award. Through the years, Alexander has unveiled to students the variables of chemistry. “I will always be interested in chemistry as a professional, but early on I found teaching the most rewarding,” he says. “I’ve consulted with companies such as IBM, and they have tried to persuade me to join them, but I’m more compelled by turning students on to the beauty of science, show them what really exists, and why.” At Mesa College, Alexander and his colleagues enjoy a superb reputation. It is the largest such department at the community college level in the county, with some 2,000-2,400 students enrolled every semester. Mesa offers 75 different lecture and lab sessions, and has a higher rate of transfer to universities than any other chemistry department in the county. The department offers a chemistry technician certification program, providing much-needed trade professionals. Mesa has the equivalent of 16 full-time faculty members, with 80 percent of the chemistry faculty holding doctorates. Courses range from introductory chemistry to second-semester organic chemistry to instrument analysis. “Our courses attract the traditional college student, as well as the working professional,” he says. “Many of our students go on to get their Ph.D.s at Berkeley, Harvard, Yale, Stanford and elsewhere.” And many of them stick close to home, making the department vital to supplying well-trained talent to the local workforce. “That’s one of the reasons we initiated the chemistry technician program,” Alexander says. “Local companies have a big need for laboratory technicians. It takes education and training to make these kinds of professionals. Rob Fremland in our department should be given credit for making our special curriculum work, with courses in instrumental analysis in addition to biochemistry.” As science changes with new discoveries, so does the teaching. “Instruments must be constantly upgraded,” Alexander says. “One of the major changes is that now there is a computerized component to just about every instrument. They are much more accurate and can get results much faster.” Alexander also serves as tireless advocate for new, expanded classrooms. “Our facilities were built in the early ‘60s,” he says. “They are outdated, and continue to break down. We don’t have the space to teach the courses as ideally they should be taught, we don’t have space to house some of the modern instruments. “One of the high-tech companies offered us a high-resolution nuclear instrument, but it requires a special room with a constant temperature. We had to turn it down, ” Alexander said. A similar situation caused the department to turn down an instrument from the National Science Foundation. In October 1998, Alexander made a passionate plea to the college board for new facilities. “The proposal we laid out has a recipe for a new science building at Mesa College,” Alexander says. “Our current facilities are run down. Safety issues become a concern.” Even with older facilities, the department thrives, depending on eager crops of students. “We teach a real mix,” Alexander says. “We have students who never had chemistry in high school, and a large proportion become fascinated. We teach health students. We teach professionals who come back for upgrades. Many students land in chemistry as a general education requirement, then end up staying throughout their academic careers and beyond. That’s very encouraging.” San Diego is now huge in the biotech industry. “They are looking for people to fill positions, especially at the technician level,” Alexander says. “We had a recent meeting with leaders in the biotech community, and they told us the demand for trained chemistry personnel was going to be much greater during the next 10 years than it was the previous 10 years. They expressed satisfaction with what we’re doing, and looked forward to meeting our students.” Alexander is also satisfied, planning to stay in teaching, continue consulting on new chemistry textbooks, and tending to the two-acres-and more citrus farm surrounding his Olivenhein home. Alexander is also advising his own three children as they make their way through undergraduate and graduate schools in colleges around the country, in such areas as business and journalism. “Chemistry
is what I do,” he says. “If I can get a few students or more
to treat chemistry with the same passion, I’ve accomplished something.”
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