I am sad to announce that this year was Dr. Vogel's last year teaching full-time at SMU. He will retire at the end of this school year. But not too worry, he won't be disappearing yet, he will be back next year teaching Analytical Chemistry.
Two of our students (Thomas Briese and John Nolte) had a chance to talk with Dr. Vogel and find out some interesting things you may not know about him...
1. What was your favorite memory from your time at SMU?
The most dramatic one I have is when I was asked to do Analytical Chemistry alone instead of Advanced Inorganic Chemistry II. My concentration at this time became the acquisition of new equipment, which was largely made possible by donations from my brother-in-law.
2. What is your favorite activity other than chemistry?
I have two favorite activities other than chemistry, one of which I simply enjoy and one I enjoy partly because I know I can be more helpful with it. The activity I can be more helpful with is cantoring for mass in Rollingstone. I sing for masses as well as funerals. The other activity I enjoy is flying, particularly flying, creating, and building model aircraft. The largest model I have is a 1/3 scale model. I've also flown in an airplane with a licensed pilot but would love to fly in a hot air balloon as well.
3. What is your favorite element?
My favorite element is beryllium mainly because I did a lot of work with its compounds (basic beryllium carboxylates). I don't do a lot of work with them anymore because they're so toxic to work with.
4. What is your ideal vacation destination?
The one I enjoyed the most was biking with my wife along the Blue Danube in the northern part of Austria. That part of the world actually looks a lot like the Mississippi River Valley, except the bluffs are a little larger. Another memorable vacation was a railroad tour of Alaska. My wife and I are planning to see more of the southern United States in the future.
5. What was the biggest change in chemistry over your lifetime?
The dramatic increase in instrumentation and computerization was definitely the biggest change in chemistry. When I started out, everything was glassware, and very rarely were goggles or gloves considered necessary. Benzene and mercury weren't even considered poisonous. In my Junior or Senior year of college, calculators finally began to show up. They had cost $100 and could only perform the four basic functions.
6. If you had to be an element, what element would you be and why?
Simply because it would be least dramatic change and the easiest one for me to adapt to, I would have to say MANganese. That's the best I can come up with on the spur of the moment.
7. What made you decide to be a chemist?
When I was in 6th or 7th grade (back then they didn't teadch chemistry at the level of schooling) I worked for my brother-in-law on his dairy farm. I worked with a machine that cleaved bottles and used the money I earned to buy a chemistry set. I became fascinated with it and did some reading as I became more interested in WHY reactions happened. When I was a sophmore in high school, the chemistry teacher who was teaching juniors needed help, so I volunteered to teach a few classes. It was at this time that I realized I really enjoyed working with students. It wasn't till my junior year of high school that I really considered going to college. Once I made that decision, I knew I wanted to learn enough to teach chemistry at the collegiate level. My junior year I committed to the Ph.D. program.
8. Who is your favorite chemist?
Linus Pauling would have to be one of the top ones, simply for the ideas he was know for pioneering. As I got involved in teaching, I got to know chemists that were interesting in teaching and learning about chemistry. I would say George Bodner is my favorite chemist from an educational standpoint.
9. How do you want to be remembered at SMU?
I would a least like to be remembered that I was able to communicate to the students here at Saint Mary's University and that some would say that I was a least a little bit helpful.
10. What is your favorite movie, type of music, TV show, and book?
movie: West Side Story and other musicals
music: Classical (favorite composer is Wagner)
TV show: CSI and other crime investigation shows
Book - Fiction: the Andromeda Strain
Book - Non-Fiction: National Geographic publications
11. What is your favorite chemistry joke?
When Jerry Lewis was in jail, what was he?
A Silicon
Two of our students (Thomas Briese and John Nolte) had a chance to talk with Dr. Vogel and find out some interesting things you may not know about him...
1. What was your favorite memory from your time at SMU?
The most dramatic one I have is when I was asked to do Analytical Chemistry alone instead of Advanced Inorganic Chemistry II. My concentration at this time became the acquisition of new equipment, which was largely made possible by donations from my brother-in-law.
2. What is your favorite activity other than chemistry?
I have two favorite activities other than chemistry, one of which I simply enjoy and one I enjoy partly because I know I can be more helpful with it. The activity I can be more helpful with is cantoring for mass in Rollingstone. I sing for masses as well as funerals. The other activity I enjoy is flying, particularly flying, creating, and building model aircraft. The largest model I have is a 1/3 scale model. I've also flown in an airplane with a licensed pilot but would love to fly in a hot air balloon as well.
3. What is your favorite element?
My favorite element is beryllium mainly because I did a lot of work with its compounds (basic beryllium carboxylates). I don't do a lot of work with them anymore because they're so toxic to work with.
4. What is your ideal vacation destination?
The one I enjoyed the most was biking with my wife along the Blue Danube in the northern part of Austria. That part of the world actually looks a lot like the Mississippi River Valley, except the bluffs are a little larger. Another memorable vacation was a railroad tour of Alaska. My wife and I are planning to see more of the southern United States in the future.
5. What was the biggest change in chemistry over your lifetime?
The dramatic increase in instrumentation and computerization was definitely the biggest change in chemistry. When I started out, everything was glassware, and very rarely were goggles or gloves considered necessary. Benzene and mercury weren't even considered poisonous. In my Junior or Senior year of college, calculators finally began to show up. They had cost $100 and could only perform the four basic functions.
6. If you had to be an element, what element would you be and why?
Simply because it would be least dramatic change and the easiest one for me to adapt to, I would have to say MANganese. That's the best I can come up with on the spur of the moment.
7. What made you decide to be a chemist?
When I was in 6th or 7th grade (back then they didn't teadch chemistry at the level of schooling) I worked for my brother-in-law on his dairy farm. I worked with a machine that cleaved bottles and used the money I earned to buy a chemistry set. I became fascinated with it and did some reading as I became more interested in WHY reactions happened. When I was a sophmore in high school, the chemistry teacher who was teaching juniors needed help, so I volunteered to teach a few classes. It was at this time that I realized I really enjoyed working with students. It wasn't till my junior year of high school that I really considered going to college. Once I made that decision, I knew I wanted to learn enough to teach chemistry at the collegiate level. My junior year I committed to the Ph.D. program.
8. Who is your favorite chemist?
Linus Pauling would have to be one of the top ones, simply for the ideas he was know for pioneering. As I got involved in teaching, I got to know chemists that were interesting in teaching and learning about chemistry. I would say George Bodner is my favorite chemist from an educational standpoint.
9. How do you want to be remembered at SMU?
I would a least like to be remembered that I was able to communicate to the students here at Saint Mary's University and that some would say that I was a least a little bit helpful.
10. What is your favorite movie, type of music, TV show, and book?
movie: West Side Story and other musicals
music: Classical (favorite composer is Wagner)
TV show: CSI and other crime investigation shows
Book - Fiction: the Andromeda Strain
Book - Non-Fiction: National Geographic publications
11. What is your favorite chemistry joke?
When Jerry Lewis was in jail, what was he?
A Silicon
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