PCC Chemistry Faculty Member Honored
April 26, 2011
The Southern Arizona Section of the American Chemical Society has selected Pima Community College faculty member Lonnie Burke, Ph.D., to receive the 2011 College Educator Award for Excellence in Teaching.
This award is given for excellence in teaching chemistry, biochemistry or a chemistry-related field at a post-secondary institution that does not offer a Ph.D.-granting program in that field.
“This honor is very important to me and leads me to believe that a number of my students are appreciative of the college education that they have,” Burke said. “As student, I was greatly indebted to my professors for their time, patience and the education they provided me. It is my objective to provide my students with a similar academic experience.”
Burke, who has a Bachelor of Science and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of California-Irvine, has been full-time Pima faculty since 2006. Burke said he sees teaching as his way to “pay it forward” and focuses on preparing his students for transfer to a university. Among the courses he teaches as part of the East Campus Life and Physical Sciences Department are General Chemistry and General Organic Chemistry I and II. He also supervises chemistry internships (CHM 290 – Chemistry Internship), giving students opportunities for undergraduate research.
“I believe student success is dependent upon well-established learning skills and a thorough knowledge of the basics,” Burke said. “My lectures focus more on the why and less of the what.”
Burke and other award winners will be recognized at the Southern Arizona Section’s Awards Reception on April 28, 2011, at EI Parador Restaurant, 2744 E. Broadway Blvd.
Chuck Weidner, awards chairman of Southern Arizona Section of the ACS, says Burke is a “rara avis,” that is unusual, in his ability to educate and influence his students. Weidner shared a quote from one of the nominations by a former student of Burke’s: “(Dr. Burke) has made it a personal responsibility to produce good students. He believes quality students are a safeguard through which the traditions of science will be preserved.”
The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a congressionally chartered independent membership organization representing professionals at all degree levels and in all fields of chemistry and sciences that involve chemistry. With more than 163,000 members, ACS (www.acs.org) is the world’s largest scientific society. The Southern Arizona Section of ACS (http://sazacs.sites.acs.org) has about 500 active members.
CONTACT:
A. Rachelle Howell, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Marketing,
(520) 206-4850