The Observer, September 2, 2005
Volume XXXVIII, Issue 1
Doc Oc set standards for what teaching should be
What does it take to have a profound impact on thousands of students? To be considered a university institution for over 20 years? To make those first scary days of freshman year just a little bit brighter? For the first time since the early 1980s, Case students will be without the one man who embodied the characteristics necessary to answer all of those questions.
Doc Oc, who would stand in front of 300 students daily and proclaim his love for chemistry, became a legend in his own time. The man who took countless hours to memorize the names and faces of each student in the freshmen class wore his devotion to the students of Case Western Reserve University on his sleeve. Even students who did not have the pleasure of taking his classes could point him out and tell any stranger why he was so special. At this university where research rules the lives of most professors, Doc stood apart by making teaching his sole duty. He expressed his love for teaching on a daily basis and students thrived in his classes. Perhaps it is it for this reason that Doc will seem irreplaceable to those who knew him.
With the passing of Doc Oc in May we not only lost a great man, but also our hope for what this university could become: a place where students are enriched and inspired by their instructors, as well as a leading research institution.
The legacy that Doc Oc left behind was not only an academic institution, but a rare example of college teaching as a means to better the lives of students. Where some professors give 10 percent to their students and 90 percent to their research, Doc gave each student 110 percent on a daily basis. His willingness to put so much of his time into knowing and understanding each and every student, as well as to offer them the quality instruction they deserved, left a mark on the thousands of students for whom freshman chemistry became more than just another class.
Whether or not Case can expect this kind of dedication towards its students from another instructor has yet to be seen. However, this legacy must thrive and serve as the example that others should follow. While it is naïve for us to believe that research will ever be pushed aside for the sake of students, the standards that Doc and a handful of other Case professors have set must be maintained. The enormous impression that Doc made on countless lives must not be forgotten by those in charge, and must be kept as a testament to the power of how great teaching can change the world.
