Chemistry professor named ODK Professor of the Year
Mike Leopold is short. So short that his students make really bad jokes about the fact that he studies the bioanalytical chemistry of nanomaterials, emphasis on the nano. They weren’t laughing, however, when they nominated him for the Epsilon Circle of Omicron Delta Kappa’s prestigious Professor of the Year Award.
“I didn’t know anything about it,” Leopold, who’s an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry, said. “There’s a school-wide faculty meeting scheduled for the day after graduation. One student in particular, Katey Reighard, asked me if I was going. I didn’t think anything of it. The next morning, she was there at the meeting, announcing my name. I had to be shoved out of my chair.”
Leopold is praised by students for always being available. His review sessions are renowned. Early in his career, he made the mistake of printing in his course syllabus that he’d stay up as long as his students did to review for exams. At midnight as he began shutting off the lights to his lab, his students started trickling in. Ready to study.
“It was a really late night. I still hold marathon review sessions but I’ve learned not to make promises in the syllabus, in black and white. My rule now is simple—I review material until they get it.”
Students also say that Leopold knows that chemistry isn’t for everyone.
“Everyone needs to at least appreciate the role science plays in society. Chemistry is a logical process and students can approach it as another intricate concept they need to wrap their heads around before they go out into the world. Do they have to love it? No. They have to work hard. The harder they work, the harder I work. If I see them trying, there’s no stopping me.”