BATES IN BRIEF FALL 20I6
ACADEMICS
In 20I6–I7, students with GPAs of 3.94 or higher will graduate summa cum laude.
Forty-two seniors completed 43 honors theses in 20I6.
Powerful Reaction
PAULA “ We ask students to find the best answers, not the right answer. We want our students to distinguish between good and bad hypotheses, and good and bad conclusions — to move from thinking that there is a right answer to the idea that the questions we’re asking don’t already have answers.” Professor of Chemistry Paula Schlax received the 2016 Kroepsch Award for Excellence in Teaching.
10
Fall 2016
PHYLLIS GRABER JENSEN
PHYLLIS GRABER JENSEN
An analytical chemist at Bates since 1981, Dana Professor of Chemistry Tom Wenzel is responsible for 162 publications, including two books. That tells you something about his productivity. The fact that 61 of those publications were coauthored by Bates students — 82 students, all told — tells you something about Wenzel’s belief in the value of undergraduate research. The field of chemistry’s foremost professional organization, the American Chemical Society, has honored Wenzel for those contributions, among others, naming him an ACS Fellow. “It’s rewarding to have my profession say, ‘We appreciate the things you’ve done,’” says Wenzel. Wenzel specializes in sophisticated techniques for identifying enantiomers — molecules that are mirror images of each other but can have different reactive effects. He’s also a national leader in reimagining how analytical chemistry is taught. President Clayton Spencer says that the honor highlights “what we at Bates have known all along: that as a researcher, an advocate for his profession, and most of all as a teacher, Tom Wenzel is a powerhouse in the field of chemistry.”