Teaching Philosophy
My basic teaching philosophy is to be enthusiastic about my subject, honest about potential confusions, and unambiguous in my explanations. I involve students in every lecture through a variety of mechanisms (call-and-response, intimate tutorials in which the students tell each other the answers using the chalkboard and I act as a facilitator, spot-the-trend checks, student papers/seminars, etc.). I try to make students feel that the lecture could not take place without them. I extensively use clear handouts so that the principles, not the details, are emphasized as being of importance. I de-emphasize memory work, and I stress the importance of integration of knowledge in the problem sets and exams (I tell the students this). Regurgitation is not part of my teaching philosophy.
Awards & Fellowships
2013 UBC Jacob Biely Research Prize
2012 – 2024 Executive Secretary, International Conferences on Coordination Chemistry
2011 – 2013 Canada Council Killam Research Fellowship
2011 Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
2009 Bioinorganic Chemistry Award, Royal Society of Chemistry
2009 Rio Tinto Alcan Award, Canadian Society for Chemistry
2007 JSPS (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science) Invitation Fellow
2006 UBC Killam Faculty Research Prize
2005 UBC Faculty of Science Achievement Award for Outstanding Service
1999 – 2000, 2013 Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Research Award
1998 UBC Faculty of Science Killam Teaching Prize
1992 Fellow of the Chemical Institute of Canada
Education
1983 – 1984 Postdoc, McMaster University (C. J. L. Lock)
1981 – 1983 NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California, Berkeley (K. N. Raymond)
1981 PhD, MIT (A. Davison, FRS), NSERC Postgraduate Scholar
1976 1st Class Hons. BSc, McGill University (D. F. R. Gilson)
