The first criterion for successful teaching must be the desire to pass on knowledge, with an acceptable payment for the effort being little more than the satisfaction of seeing the transfer take place. After many years I believe I have arrived at this state, no matter what aims or purpose I might have had when I started teaching. In addition to the more tangible rewards of being employed, I am now receiving real additional rewards from the murmur of understanding I get from a student after I have explained something yet one more time, or from a raised eyebrow, or some other sign that the whole business is beginning to make sense. I am truly gratified when a lecture goes well, and not at all when it does not. Fortunately or unfortunately, I can always tell.

Because I lecture quickly and find it very difficult to slow down, I have for years been writing notes and handing them out to my classes. I do not slavishly follow the notes; as a matter of fact, it would be impossible to do so since I don't look at them as I lecture. But I do remain close enough to the content of the notes that students do not have to write constantly at the expense of comprehending. I like to think that the obvious effort necessary to produce the notes convinces the students that I do want to put my message across. I believe that if the students know I value the knowledge and material I am trying to impart, they will also come to not only understand the material, but value it as well. My handwritten lecture notes also establish a curious human bond with my students. Because I teach large undergraduate courses, this personal contact is crucial to me.

I believe that we can learn almost anything by ourselves, but I also believe that it is better by far to have someone teach it to us. I try in every way I can to convince students that I am available to do that. I try to be responsive to any question a student comes up with, and I trust that I never lower my students' confidence by the way I answer questions. I want to build my students' confidence with the knowledge that they now have the answer to that question and the sum total of what they know is growing constantly. I am enthusiastic about the transmittal of learning in any subject area, and particularly in chemical engineering. I do believe my enthusiasm shows and I do believe it is contagious.