Igniting a passion for research
William J. & Shirley A. Maeck Family Foundation donation provides valuable experience for undergraduate students.
by Kimberly M. Hazen
Connecting principles in a textbook to real-world applications can mean the difference between the success and failure of a chemical experiment. It can also be the spark that ignites a passion for chemistry. For an undergraduate student allowed to conduct research in a lab, this experience can be life-changing.
Recent gifts from the William J. & Shirley A. Maeck Family Foundation allowed the department to expand research opportunities for undergraduate students through a unique program that gave them a designated lab space and a supervisor. The donation funded the hiring of postdoc Ted McClain who crafted a curriculum for a new Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience designed to give undergraduate students authentic research experience, laboratory training, and a unique learning opportunity. “I was fortunate to have great chemistry professors who took an interest in my development and supported my pursuit of undergraduate research that ultimately led me to pursue a Ph.D. in organic chemistry,” Ted explained. “Because of the tremendous impact that my undergraduate research experience had on my development and excitement for chemistry, I have always aspired to be a professor of chemistry.”
The students he mentored—Jewel Sherchok, Michael Rolfs, and Song Nhi Dang—agree that the experience was extremely valuable to their undergraduate education. “The learning process is essentially saying, ‘This may be a good path to take, so let’s take it and see what happens!’”, explains Michael Rolfs, whose research focused on the study of substituent effects in phenothiazine derivatives and their electrochemical reactivity towards the oxidative functionalization of alkenes. “That is the very core of science—to poke and prod until something marvelous happens, or nothing at all, then write it down and continue forward.”
William “Bill” Maeck understood this process of trial and error. After earning his undergraduate degree in chemistry from UW–Madison in 1953 where he worked under Dr. Farrington Daniels, Bill went on to receive a master’s degree from the University of Idaho and work for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission Laboratory, which later became the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). During his time at the INL, he took a keen interest in investing in the stock market. His methodical and serious mind served him as he evaluated different stocks to purchase or sell. He was once quoted as saying, “In analytical chemistry, you try to find a little bit of this and a little bit of that—I would do the same thing when deciding whether I wanted to buy a business.” He knew the skills he learned in chemistry weren’t very different from the skills that made him a successful investor.
For Jewel Sherchok, Bill’s talents for investing and generosity allowed her to have an opportunity that she might not have had access to otherwise. She says the program and its mentorship guided her not only in her research but also in her personal and professional growth, “Through this research experience, I have not only enhanced my critical thinking skills but also honed my interpersonal and professional abilities through collaboration with my mentor and fellow researchers.”
As a third-year undergraduate student, Song Nhi Dang used the experience to fine-tune her interest in chemistry. “I have discovered my passion for chemistry,” she explains. “In particular, I am extremely excited about the applications of organic chemistry to the development of new cosmetics.” She said the experience allowed her a chance to dive deeper into her interests through research.
The program will continue in 2025 under Bryan Wakefield, the department’s new director of undergraduate chemistry research. His goal for the program is to provide a high-quality research experience to as many undergraduate students as possible. “The undergraduate research space on the 7th floor of the North Tower is the ideal place to provide students who have not found a position in a faculty-led group with this opportunity,” he explains. “Students can have their first research experience there and gain the skills they need
to transition to other groups in the department or around campus.” Bryan plans to further develop a program so that post-doctoral researchers and graduate students can propose research projects, recruit undergraduate students, and mentor them in the research. This model will allow undergraduate mentees to have an authentic research experience but it will also provide training to the mentors to help prepare them to lead their independent research groups in the future.
While Bill Maeck passed away in 2018, his legacy lives on through the support of research opportunities for undergraduate students. The students and the entire department are grateful for his foundation’s generous support.