Professor Michael Koerner has worn many hats in his professional and personal life. Early in his career, he worked in private industry as a pharmaceutical process chemist at G.D. Searle & Company, then a product development and formulation scientist at The Clorox Company, then an associate partner of technology transfer at Research Corporation Technologies, and later, he became a teacher in an MBA program before making the transition to teaching chemistry.
In 2013, he joined the Department of Chemistry at Illinois where he is senior lecturer of Organic Chemistry.
Koerner said he has had many roles in his life, including parent, family member, cat-whisperer, teacher, visual artist, entrepreneur, traveler and scientist.
“Each role has been fulfilling through its various stages, but I’m always a teacher,” he said.
Koerner recently received special recognition from the Office of the Chancellor for the positive impact he has had on recent graduates, who mentioned him in the campus-wide Chancellor’s Senior Survey.
The questionnaire is administered to all graduating seniors as a way to better understand their experiences at Illinois. The survey addresses students’ participation in activities and services, student learning outcomes, campus climate, and satisfaction with the Illinois experience, including asking students to name one faculty or staff member who made a positive impact on their experience at Illinois.
More than 900 faculty and staff were mentioned at least once, but Koerner is one of 38 faculty and staff who were identified by 10 or more students for making a positive impact, according to the chancellor’s office.
Koerner said the recognition is humbling, but an honor that especially makes him proud, because it originated from his students.
“I’m both privileged to be part of a bigger purpose and fortunate to play a supporting role in so many students’ lives,” he said. “Like all educators who are lucky enough to get to choose the subject matter that they teach, we have a natural, built-in passion for our selected field.”
Teaching medicinal (organic) chemistry, Koerner said he tailors course content to the future goals and career aspirations of his students. The vast majority are on the path to be health professionals in medicine, pharmacology, dentistry and veterinary medicine.
“The students, in turn, become dedicated, diligent, and work hard. That personal connection to their future makes me passionate and motivates me to commit to each student,” he said.
Koerner, or “Dr. K,” as he’s known by his students, earned his PhD in organic chemistry from the University of California at Santa Barbara and transitioned from business and industry to teaching business courses at the McGuire School of Entrepreneurship in 2004 and then college chemistry in 2006 at the University of Arizona.
“I know that teaching is a passion and fulfilling endeavor for me, because when I teach I sometimes forget to eat,” he said.
A unique part of Koerner’s teaching structure is his Preceptor Program, which is a teaching team of students who excelled in his class previously and help current students.
Former Preceptor Sarah Bhurgri said that Koerner is an amazing instructor whose drive to motivate his students with assistance of preceptors helped motivate her in the classroom.
“Although he may not have started out knowing he wanted to be a teacher, he was destined to be one,” she said. “Throughout one semester he morphs a large upper-level science class to a friendly and supportive community where you never feel alone... I am so very appreciative of Dr. Koerner and all he does for his students. My experience at UIUC would not have been as impactful without him.”
Preceptor Karan Menon said Koerner is the most influential professor he has encountered in his academic career. Karan said that Dr. K goes above and beyond to ensure students have ample opportunity to succeed, like the abundance of resources in his CHEM 332 class that include 10-plus office hours a week, four weekly Zoom sessions, 20-plus practice exams and more than 100 videos of recorded discussions from past years.
“And most important for me was the class Facebook group,” he said. “Dr. K places a heavy emphasis on interactions with his students, and our course Facebook page was a unique way to not only tackle questions that students had outside of normal class hours but also to foster a collaborative community. At the beginning of the course, Dr. K would mainly be answering the questions posed by students, but as the semester progressed, we would see that naturally other students would start to help each other out.”
Former preceptor Anna Busza said that Organic Chemistry II with Koerner is still her favorite undergraduate class.
She said Koerner is incredibly focused on providing all the necessary resources for student success, fostering a sense of community within the class through a Facebook group, providing past exams and discussion videos and recruiting preceptors to answer student questions and help motivate them.
“At the end of the semester, student success came from their own hard work and dedication to the class,” she said, explaining that as a preceptor, she saw students accustom to average grades in classes coming to office hours more often and engaging more with the class and, to their surprise, earning higher grades with their hard work.
“That was really inspiring to see, and that's why I believe Dr. K's values and methodology make him such a successful and influential teacher.”