Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I was born in Scarborough, Ontario, in 1957 so I was a suburban kid, well-versed in the use of the Toronto Transit System. I enjoyed Toronto and everything it had to offer. A friend had seasons tickets to the Maple Leafs and after the games we’d wander down Young Street and hit Sam the Record Man. They were good times. I went to R.H. King Collegiate for high school, graduating in 1976.
After high school, I entered the Co-op Chemistry program at Waterloo. Waterloo’s Co-op program at the time was the second largest in North America. I found it to be a great way to go through University. Not only was the money better, but it gave you an opportunity to test drive jobs in government and industry and in the different sub-disciplines of chemistry. I learned, for example, that I never wanted to work in analytical chemistry as a career. I had several varied work experiences: testing fish for mercury and pesticides for the Fisheries and Marine Service in Toronto, food analysis for General Foods in Cobourg, Ont., process stream analysis at Syncrude and finally, agricultural pesticide research for Uniroyal in Guelph. The last job involved organic synthesis which led directly to my PhD work. I loved making new organic compounds never prepared before. I still do. My Co-op experience has proven to be a huge asset to my teaching here. I have many good stories that I share with my students based on my experiences.
After my PhD, I did post-doctoral work with Carl Johnson at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. For the first year, I lived in Windsor and commuted across the border every day. I had a former grad student buddy, Jim Green, who was a prof at Windsor and he invited me to join the department slow-pitch baseball team. I went to meet him at his office before one game and while waiting for him, scanned the department bulletin board to kill time. It was there that I saw the job posting for a position at the University of Lethbridge. I’d never heard of ULethbridge, but it sounded like the kind of place I’d like to work since it clearly valued undergraduate education. So here I am.
How long have you been at ULethbridge and what do you do here?
I joined the Faculty in 1990. I have taught over a dozen different courses, mainly in General Chemistry and Organic Chemistry. My research area is in the synthesis and chemistry of isobenzofurans and their application to the synthesis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and cyclophanes. Over my 36 years here, I have supervised over a hundred Independent Studies projects and four graduate students.
I have been an organic synthetic chemist since 1981. What I loved then about organic synthesis was making molecules that no one else in the world had ever made. I enjoy it still. One of the things I like to share with my students is the enormous impact that technological change has had on our ability to do science.
What's the best part of your job?
I have greatly enjoyed working with students in the classroom and particularly those who have worked in my lab. I still keep in touch with many of them and many are good friends. I have always enjoyed the classroom experience. Probably more than my students have.
I would have to say that the best part of my job has been my colleagues in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry. We have worked together as a cohesive, collegial group with the understanding that what is good for the department is good for all of us in the long run. We have hired excellent people and are now among the strongest units in the University. We have a history of selfless leadership — Chairs who have sacrificed their productivity to ensure that the Department was well run.
This is a very different institution than it was 35 years ago, particularly for those of us in the sciences. We have transformed this institution from an undergraduate university to a more research-intensive university with a vibrant graduate school — and a new state-of-the-art science building. I am proud of the role that our department has played in all of these developments.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
My wife Laurie Pacarynuk (Biology) and I are avid campers and enjoy towing our fifth-wheel (and our teenagers) to local campgrounds and into the Okanagan every summer. I also have a small woodworking shop including two lathes. I’m a founding member of the Chinook Woodturner’s Guild and enjoy turning when I have time, which is almost never. I have played the tuba since elementary school and own one that is 115 years old. I don’t play much, but I have been a regular participant in the annual Tuba Christmas concerts. If you like Christmas music, hearing it played by an entire band made up of tubas is something you don’t want to miss.