Congratulations are in order. Representatives from CBSAC recently presented Rick Spinney, Coordinator for Undergraduate Computing and eLearning for the Department, with the CBC Staff Award for the months of September and October for his dedication to the undergraduate teaching mission. Rick runs two undergraduate computing labs and takes care of the computing and software needs for undergraduates and lecturers. He also teaches a Computational Chemistry course every fall and has taught general chemistry, organic chemistry, and a number of workshops for high school teachers and incoming students in the past. Rick is also a past member of both the curriculum and the scholarship committees and was a member of the committee that rewrote the then internal department annual review process. He has served on a number of OCIO committees and has written a student computing policy that the COAM committee has adopted.

 

Externally, Rick is a peer reviewer for a number of chemistry journals and a reviewer for CERD (Computational Science Education Reference Desk). He has been a member of the CCCE (Committee on Computers in Chemical Education) for a number of years and recently became the editor for the CCCE Newsletter.

 

But that’s not all; Rick has developed a large amount of material for general and organic chemistry on the web (http://undergrad-ed,chemistry.osu.edu), content which has been adopted by the UCDavis ChemWiki. He has also worked with a number of publishers developing digital content for numerous books, including the original online version of the Carey Organic textbook. Currently, he is a co-author of a new organic textbook with Cengage, which aims to be ready in spring 2018. Furthermore, with Dr. Callam and Dr. Paul, Rick has developed the online pre/post labs used by all 2540 & 2550 students and will be working on online pre/post labs for general chemistry next semester.

 

Finally, Rick is also active in research, currently focusing on the environmental effects and radical oxidation of a number of pollutants in both wastewaters and the atmosphere. He is also involved with a project examining a new anticancer treatment.

 

Among the stellar things said about Rick in his nomination entry, the following are just a few:

 

“…Rick stepped in beyond his job duties and used his expertise to create programs and methods to handle crucial operations.”

 

“I cannot recall an occasion when Rick has turned down a request for his help or time, and his efforts are invaluable to the department.”

 

The CBC Staff Award is given bimonthly to those who go above and beyond to make Chemistry and Biochemistry an awesome place to work. For the upcoming months, you can nominate your outstanding colleagues by visiting here.