Meet Steve Wathen

Associate Professor of Chemistry

• Ph.D., The Ohio State University
• B.A., Carleton College

Recent Awards and Achievements

• Chair, Advisory Council for Careers in Biochemical Technology class at LISD Tech Center
• “Introduction to Cheminformatics Databases for Teaching” presented at Michigan College Chemistry Teachers Association, Nov 1, 2008
• Served on Lenawee Chemical Industry and Education group

Interests/Areas of Expertise

• Organic Chemistry
• Biological Chemistry
• Chemical Informatics

Teaching Philosophy

“Learning is more than accumulating facts. The important thing about learning is being able to use the facts available and apply critical thinking skills to solve new and unfamiliar problems. My role as teacher is not to supply facts and equations to memorize, but to guide students in developing their own critical thinking skills. In some ways, I am not concerned with what the students know as much I am concerned with their ability to figure out how to approach a problem. Chemistry has a reputation as a difficult subject, but there is a logic to it and if the students can use that logic they can figure out any problem.”