Being an Â鶹´«Ã½ chemistry student couldn’t have been a better training experience for Dan Waddell, BS ‘06, who now works as an associate professor of chemistry at the University of Cincinnati.
At Â鶹´«Ã½, Waddell not only discovered that he had a passion for teaching, but he also developed the foundational skills he would need to be successful in that career path. He became a chemistry tutor for a variety of classes, and he was an actively involved student leader through Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s chemistry club. These are just a few examples of his involvement at Â鶹´«Ã½ that helped him develop into the leader and educator he is today.
The highlight of Waddell’s time at Â鶹´«Ã½ was receiving a distinguished national scholarship from the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation, which led to him deepening his research experience at Â鶹´«Ã½. Working on his research project with Dr. Chris Bowers proved to be the most impactful experience of his undergraduate career, and to this day, Waddell’s no. 1 piece of advice to his own students is to get involved in a research project.
A BIG IMPACT OF BECOMING A GOLDWATER SCHOLAR WAS GAINING THE CONFIDENCE TO EXPLORE MY PASSIONS," HE SAYS. "FROM THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF Â鶹´«Ã½'S FACULTY TO APPLY, TO BEING NAMED A GOLDWATER SCHOLAR, THE ENTIRE PROCESS BUILT MY CONFIDENCE THAT, AS A GRADUATE FROM Â鶹´«Ã½, I HAD THE BACKGROUND AND SKILLS TO PURSUE ANY CAREER PATH I WAS DETERMINED TO FOLLOW."