Thomas Hummel received his Bachelor of Science degree in 1983 from the University of Illinois. He joined the General Chemistry teaching staff soon thereafter.

Teaching Philosopy

In my 30 years of teaching general chemistry classes, my goal for each class is to be prepared and to do the best job that I can. This goal is something I try to instill in my students. In my course, I emphasize chemical models (theories) and how to apply these models to problem solving. We will discuss many chemical concepts during the semester, but real understanding of these concepts doesn’t occur until we can apply the concepts to solve problems.

My responsibility is to help students understand the concepts, but also to help illustrate how to apply the concepts. I can’t learn the material for students, but I can provide a structure for the course that helps students understand and apply the material.  If students give me the effort, then I will do my best to help students achieve this goal of mastering the material.