Outstanding Research Mentor - David Ball

My days as a student in Mr. Braun’s chemistry class at Jefferson High School in Daly City, California were the impetus for my pursuing chemistry as a career goal. The path towards this goal included degrees from UC, Berkeley and UC, Santa Barbara, a post-doctoral research position at Boston University, a year at the University of Chile, Santiago, a teaching post-doctoral position at UCSB, and finally a temporary teaching position at Chico State in 1974. Thus began my professional career as a teacher-scholar. Thirty-four years later, I am still working at improving my skills in chemistry.

It has been said that scientific research is the best education that an undergraduate could ever have and the engagement in research produces practicing scientists and not just students who know about science. This has been my philosophy in actively engaging the many student co-workers who have toiled by my side in my research lab during my tenure at Chico State. Even though not every student co-worker makes a significant, original intellectual or creative contribution to moving each research project forward, each student does become adept at doing synthetic organic chemistry as an independent researcher. A large number of these student co-workers have gone on to graduate studies in chemistry with most of these receiving PhDs. Their undergraduate research experiences at Chico State jump-started their successful graduate careers. My success in the classroom and the research lab is entirely due to these extraordinary talented students who chose chemistry as a major and matured as chemists as undergraduates at Chico State.