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STORY AND PHOTO CAN BE FOUND AT: http://news.uns.purdue.edu/UNS/html3month/001114.Loudon.profofyear.html
NOTE TO JOURNALISTS: A publication-quality photograph of Loudon is available at http://news.uns.purdue.edu or at ftp://ftp.purdue.edu/pub/uns/. It is called loudon.profofyear.
November 14, 2000
PURDUE MEDICINAL CHEMIST NAMED INDIANA PROFESSOR OF THE YEAR
Sources: Marc Loudon, (765) 494-1462, [email protected]
Caren Meyers, (765) 494-0038, [email protected]
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Purdue Professor Marc Loudon has great chemistry with his students. He makes the incomprehensible comprehensible, the intimidating stimulating, and the disengaged engaged.
Loudon, Gustave E. Cwalina Distinguished Professor and associate dean of the School of Pharmacy, was named the 2000 Indiana Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The award was announced today (Tuesday, 11/14) by the Carnegie Foundation and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, which administers the program.
Loudon is the sixth Purdue professor to earn this award in the past 13 years. The award is given in recognition of extraordinary dedication to teaching, commitment to students and innovative teaching methods.
Loudon received his first teaching award in 1976 when he taught at Cornell University. In 1984, as a professor at Purdue, he became convinced students could perform better in organic chemistry if a different textbook was used.
His solution? Writing a textbook that stressed understanding chemical processes.
"Most textbooks take a memorizational approach to the subject," said Loudon. "Facts are important but you gotta do something with them."
"Organic Chemistry," now in its third edition, is used at schools including Harvard, Princeton, Emory and Tulane Universities. According to Donald E. Bergstrom, Walther Professor of Chemistry, the book has been recognized for its innovative approach, and characteristics of Loudon's book have become widely copied.
After introducing his text to the classroom, Loudon said he was disappointed students were not learning as well as he expected. So, in 1993, he decided to try a new approach to teaching.
In an experimental section of organic chemistry, he threw away the traditional lecture format and divided the class into small study groups of three to four students. Loudon introduced a problem-solving format into his lectures, encouraging more classroom interaction. The result was a class that students say they look forward to.
"Students fear organic chemistry at all schools," said Caren Meyers, a second year research postdoctoral visiting instructor who is teaching the course with Loudon. "He takes the approach of forcing students to learn why things happen and stresses the 'big picture.' If students step back, it's much easier to remember and, by the end of the course, the experience is not as bad as the students thought it would be."
"He takes the chemistry out of chemistry by applying general concepts," said sophomore pre-pharmacy major Cheryl Guzikowski, who transferred to Purdue this year from Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa.
A student wrote this in rating Loudon: "What makes him such a wonderful professor is that he can take his knowledge and still be able to express it to students, mainly 19 or 20 year olds, in ways that they, with much less education, can understand. To students that are learning material that seems completely foreign, this is greatly appreciated."
For example, Loudon might compare a step in the chemical process to the passage of cars through a toll booth. Or he might compare a chemical reaction that isn't possible because of a molecule's size to "a fat guy trying to get through a barbed wire fence."
According to his colleagues, his efforts to engage students work.
"One of the biggest things that I've learned from Loudon," said Meyers, "is that unless you actually engage students in conversation, you don't really know what their hangups are about a certain concept. Once you know how they think and what their problems are, you can correct the common misconceptions that the students have."
After attending a school much smaller than Purdue, Guzikowski said she was intimidated by a lecture hall filled with 200 students.
"I was nervous about coming to a bigger school, but the way he teaches crosses the barrier between a small school and a big school. His way of teaching helps students talk to him on a regular basis," Guzikowski said. "I know Dr. Loudon and he knows my name. And that's nice."
Loudon's efforts, however, don't stop in the classroom. While he devotes in-class time to teach students how to study, it's not unusual for students to request additional help. He devotes time outside of class -- sometimes more than an hour per student--to help them understand the material and to teach effective study strategies.
"I love teaching," said Loudon. "I get a kick out of seeing the light go on in students' heads."
Loudon, who joined the School of Pharmacy and Pharmacal Sciences as an associate professor of medicinal chemistry in 1977, was promoted to professor in 1983. He was named associate dean for research and graduate programs in the school in 1988.
Since joining Purdue, he has received five teaching awards and was entered in Purdue's "Book of Great Teachers," a permanent recognition in the Purdue Memorial Union. In addition to "Organic Chemistry," he has authored or coauthored more than 50 publications, papers and articles.
Loudon is a founding faculty member of "The Chemistry Place," a national Web site devoted to undergraduate chemistry education. As associate dean, he developed a fellowship program for undergraduate research in the School of Pharmacy and served as cochair of Purdue's Teaching Evaluation Committee from 1996-98. He chaired the Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology Teaching Evaluation Committee from 1998-2000.
Colleges and universities throughout the county nominated 476 faculty members for the teaching awards. This year, there are winners in 44 states and the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico.
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching was founded in 1905 by Andrew Carnegie and is the only advanced study center for teachers in the world. It is the country's third oldest foundation.
CASE is the largest international association of educational institutions with members at nearly 2,900 colleges, universities and independent elementary and secondary schools in 44 countries.
rwj/Loudon.profofyear
Writer: Bob Johnson, (765) 494-7704, [email protected]
Other sources: Cheryl Guzikowski, (765) 495-1730, [email protected]
Related Web sites:http://www.pharmacy.purdue.edu/~mcmp/Faculty/Loudon.shtmlhttp://www.case.org/awards/poyabout.htm
PHOTO CAPTION:
Purdue pharmacy professor Marc Loudon, the Indiana professor of the year works with students in his organic chemistry class. Loudon was honored as the 2000 Indiana Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. (Purdue News Service Photo by David Umberger)
A publication-quality photograph is available at http://news.uns.purdue.edu and at ftp://ftp.purdue.edu/pub/uns/. Photo ID: Loudon.profofyear
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