ANN ARBOR—In 2003, Pete Hasiaskos had “positively no interest in chemistry,” considering it “annoying.” But taking Brian Coppola’s class changed everything and today Hasiaskos teaches high school chemistry.

“He was the first person who was able to open my eyes to the type of ‘dialogue’ that necessarily exists between theory and experiment, between expectation and observation,” Hasiaskos recalled. “I began to see the ‘rules’ of chemistry not as ends-in-themselves but rather as the tip of an iceberg of inter-connected knowledge?Dr. Coppola often revealed to us that there was another layer to our seemingly simple question.”

Coppola, the University of Michigan’s Arthur Thurnau Professor of Chemistry, has been selected as a 2009 U.S. Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. Founded in 1981, the U.S. Professors of the Year is the only national program specifically designed to acknowledge outstanding undergraduate teaching. Coppola was selected from more than 300 top professors in the United States.

Mark Meyerhoff, acting chair of U-M’s chemistry department, notes that Coppola’s reputation for innovations in undergraduate education crosses national boundaries.

“Several years ago he initiated the chemistry department’s exchange program with Peking University, which brings Chinese undergraduates to our department for summer research participation and vice versa,” Meyerhoff said.

He added that the adulatory student letters the department regularly receives about the impact of Coppola’s teaching on their lives include phrases such as “life-long mentor,” “single most important influence,” and “changed my life.”

Coppola was also instrumental in founding U-M’s IDEA Institute, a collaboration between U-M’s School of Education and College of Literature, Science, and the Arts that brings together students and faculty from science, math and education fields to improve and advance undergraduate as well as precollege teaching and learning. He more recently initiated the FUTURE program, Foundations for Undergraduate Teaching: Uniting Research and Education.

Craig Nelson, a professor emeritus of biology at Indiana University who won a Professor of the Year award in 2000, said it was “astonishing” that Coppola has already had more than 60 articles published on teaching and related topics. He also praised Coppola’s emphasis on helping students “write the textbook” to improve their learning experience in a course.

Coppola joins professor Buzz Alexander (English) who won the U.S. Professor of the Year award in 2005 and professor Ralph Williams, who was honored with the State of Michigan Professor of the Year Award for the last year. Coppola was previously recognized with the State Award (2004), as were Forestry Professor Burton Barnes (1990) and History Professor Sidney Fine (1986).

For more on Coppola, visit:

www.chem.lsa.umich.edu/chem/faculty/facultyDetail.php?Uniqname=bcoppola

For more on the U.S. Professors of the Year, visit:

www.usprofessorsoftheyear.org/

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