Dr. Mike Setter of the Chemistry Department is the winner of the 2022 Lucrezia Culicchia Award for Teaching Excellence.
Nominators praised Dr. Setter for his high level of rigor in the classroom and lab and his deep commitment to the ideal of cura personalis. One student wrote, “as a nervous freshman coming into ֱ, I had a lot of anxiety about my course load... One of the things that motivated me to stay in the major that I’ve always dreamed of pursuing was seeing Dr. Setter’s enthusiasm and love for chemistry four days a week. Dr. Setter helped me develop my growth mindset.” Dr. Setter received particular praise for the interactive lab simulations he developed during COVID to ensure that students who were temporarily unable to access our physical lab facilities nonetheless gained a sophisticated understanding of instrumentation. These simulations are recent examples of something the nominators describe as characteristic of Dr. Setter’s teaching throughout his career: namely, a commitment to ensuring that students leave his classes as industry-ready chemists, able to apply their knowledge in a range of settings. An alum sums this up quite eloquently:
