Bassam Shakhashiri

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Shakhashiri in his Science is Fun program (2011)

Bassam Z. Shakhashiri (* 1939 in Enfeh , Lebanon ) is an American chemist of Lebanese descent. He has been with the University of Wisconsin – Madison since 1970 , but gained fame primarily for his commitment to promoting scientific education. He has received numerous awards and honorary doctorates and was President of the American Chemical Society in 2012 .

Career

Career

Bassam Z. Shakhaskiri was born in 1939 into an academic family. His father, Zekin A. Shakhashiri, research in health sciences (public health) at the American University of Beirut , while his mother, Adma N. Shakhashiri, a degree from the Lebanese American University had. In 1957, Bassam Z. Shakhashiri moved to the United States with his parents and two sisters . There he continued his studies at the American University of Beirut and graduated from Boston University in 1960 with a bachelor's degree in chemistry . After a year at Bowdoin College in Brunswick , he continued his studies at the University of Maryland , where he received his Masters in 1964 and Ph.D. in 1968. attained. He spent two years as a post-doc at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign before moving to the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1970, where he is still active in research and teaching.

Act

Shakhashiri was primarily committed to the goal of making chemistry understandable to the general public or to bring it closer. He is also committed to promoting and improving teaching at schools and universities. As early as 1977 he was a co-founder and first chairman of the Undergraduate Teaching Improvement Council , an association of university teachers that works to improve teaching at all universities in Wisconsin . In 1983 he also founded the Institute for Chemical Education , which is committed to chemical education in schools and universities. From 1984 to 1990 he worked for the National Science Foundation , where he was Assistant Director for Science and Engineering Education in the Directorates of Natural Sciences and Engineering .

Became famous for Shakashiri mainly by the called him into being project Science is Fun (dt .: Science is fun ). It is primarily about the presentation of interesting chemical experiments in schools, at public events or on television in order to increase awareness and interest in science. The project now offers a number of other programs that are more geared towards teachers or also shed light on the relationships between science and ethics , religion , politics or economics .

Shakashiri has also given over 1,400 guest lectures around the world and appears regularly on radio and television.

Honors

Shakashiri has received over 35 individual awards so far, all of which relate to his work in promoting understanding and teaching of science. Below is a selection:

He is a Fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science and has received honorary doctorates from George Washington University , Illinois State University , Ripon College , the University of Colorado , Grand Valley State University , and the University of South Carolina and the Lebanese-American University .

Shakashiri also served as President of the American Chemical Society in 2012; He has been a member since 1962 and a Fellow since 2010.

Personal

Shakashiri is married and has one daughter.

Web links

  • Profile on the website of the University of Wisconsin – Madison (English)
  • Video Portrait (English, runtime 5:39) on science360.gov

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f scifun.wisc.edu: “Bassam Z. Shakhashiri” (English, accessed on December 26, 2014).
  2. ↑ wisconsin.edu: "OPID" ( memento of the original from December 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed December 26, 2014).  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.wisconsin.edu
  3. ↑ scifun.chem.wisc.edu: WISL programs (accessed December 26, 2014).
personal data
SURNAME Shakhashiri, Bassam
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Shakhashiri, Bassam Z.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American-Lebanese chemist and university professor
DATE OF BIRTH 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH Enfeh , Lebanon