Mary Butkus
Senior David Case (left), a chemistry major in Arts & Sciences, chats outside Holmes Lounge April 18 with Julie Jensen, his former chemistry teacher at Middleton High School in Middleton, Wis. Jensen was on campus to receive WUSTL’s Center for Advanced Learning 2010 Cornerstone Teacher Award, for which she was nominated by Case. The center annually invites graduating seniors who have provided services to other students as academic mentors to nominate an elementary or secondary school teacher they believe has contributed significantly to their intellectual and personal development. Students are invited to submit essays that describe why they believe the teacher is deserving of recognition, and those essays are reviewed by a committee. Case has served as a writing fellow to “Chemistry 445″ and helps guide students in the course through the completion of their paper. “When Ms. Jensen taught the dance describing coordination polyhedra she literally danced in front of the classroom,” wrote Case in his essay about Jensen. “Chemistry became less an enigma and more an enticing puzzle to be solved. Chemistry, I learned, is not an ominous void of confusion. Rather, it’s a tool for understanding, measuring and creating the world around us.” Case plans to attend the California Institute of Technology in the fall to pursue a doctorate in the division of geological and planetary sciences.