"I have taught primarily Organic Chemistry at the university level since 2002. After getting my PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of Washington under Wes Borden, I spent a year as a teaching postdoc at Princeton with Maitland Jones (yes, that Mait Jones – Google him). Shortly after starting my faculty position, I was selected as the Professor of the Year (2005) by the Seattle Pacific University student body. My hallmark has been my ability to engage and excite many of my students (mostly pre-meds) in a topic that very few of them are inherently interested in. Often, my pre-med students would return to tell me that rather than fearing the o-chem passages on the MCAT, they looked forward to them because they found them to be the easiest ones! Over a span of 13 years, my students’ average on the ACS Organic Chemistry exam was in the 78th percentile. Since leaving SPU, I've continued to teach both lecture and lab courses in organic at both UW and local community colleges alongside tutoring on Wyzant.

I have always believed organic chemistry is best learned by interacting with others. Very few people learn organic well by locking themselves in their dorm room and chugging through problem sets on their own. In the tutoring environment, I will actively engage the student in evaluating their ideas and answers so they are able to self-correct. I will not provide answers, but will show the student how they can generate the answers to questions on their own. This skill is critical for success on exams and quizzes.

If you are struggling to succeed in organic alone, I would be thrilled to bring my enthusiasm and engagement to your study efforts, to help you not only survive organic but conquer it – and maybe even enjoy it a little!" less...