June 19, 2014 Chemistry teacher tops NZ St Cuthberts College teacher Ian Torrie has been named one of the top teachers in New Zealand. The Chemistry teacher was honoured at the National Excellence in Teaching Awards last month, where he was the only Auckland recipient of an ASG Excellence in Teaching Award for secondary education. Ian is one of the finest teachers I have ever encountered, says St Cuthberts Associate Principal and Head of Senior School Helen Robertson. Student evaluations consistently rank Ian at the top level and every year former students attribute their success in tertiary science studies to him as the teacher that ignited their interest. As Head of Chemistry, Ian is responsible for an explosion in the number of students choosing to take the subject. Almost half of Year 12 and 13 girls study chemistry, making it in the top three subject choices at the College. Nationally the participation rate is around 20%. Under Ians guidance the Colleges average NCEA Chemistry results have climbed steadily and are typically at least 50% higher than the national average, showing the strength of his teaching and leadership in the Chemistry department. He is known to arrive at school at 7am … Continue reading →

A California chemistry professor charged in the laboratory death of a young research assistant has struck a deal with prosecutors that will allow him to avoid jail time, concluding a court battle that transfixed the scientific community. UCLA chemistry professor Patrick Harran must complete 800 hours of community service, teach a summer school chemistry class to disadvantaged Los Angeles youth, and pay a $10,000 fine to the burn centre where the young woman, Sheri Sangji, was treated. If he completes these requirements in the next five years, and no further safety violations occur in his lab, the charges against him will be dropped. Sangji, a 23-year-old research assistant who had just graduated, was working in Harrans lab in December 2008 when a dangerous chemical she was transferring sparked a fireball that quickly engulfed her. She died of complications from her burns three weeks later. Harran was slapped with four felony labour code violations the first time a U.S. academic had ever been charged criminally in a lab accident death. The case transfixed the chemistry community in particular, sparking arguments about whether academia should or would ever be able to match the safety record of industrial labs. The governing body of … Continue reading →