I am very sorry to
announce the death of my close friend and colleague, Prof.
Joe Lagowski [University of Texas at Austin]. He was died on
April 29th 2014. He is the co-founder of SATLC & SAQ, s with
me. We are jointly developed this approach internationally
since the year 1998. One of our achievements is this website
beside a lot of joint publications in this area. I think we
lost him but we did not lose him as a co-founder of SATLC &
SAQ, S in chemistry Education area. It is a great loss for
me. But, however, I will go on the same line to continue
what we started together. Finally, I was deeply shocked by
this news. My heartfelt condolences to his family and to
chemistry education community in large.
Message of condolences
Members of
Chair of Chemistry Teaching Methodology,
Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Serbia
We were deeply
saddened by the news of Prof. Lagowski's passing. Even
though words cannot express sorrow, they could express the
value of everything what Prof. Lagowski had done for
Chemistry Education, especially for Systemic Approach
(SATLC). Together, Prof. Lagowski and Prof. Fahmy
established this approach as new method of teaching and
learning chemistry which fosters meaningful learning. SATLC
has spread around the world due to the fact that
high-quality foundation has been made. Such foundation could
be based only by someone who is excellent educator and
chemist, and who deeply understands what is necessary for
teaching and learning process which follows the needs of
rapidly developing science such as Chemistry. On the one
hand remains eternal memory of Prof. Lagowski's
achievements, however, on the other hand remains regret of
what he could still do in this important area of Chemical
Education.
Remembering Professor Lagowski
By
Diana Mason, PhD, ACSF [USA]
I was already contemplating
what chocolate (his favorite food!) could I give Professor
Lagowski for his 84th birthday on June 6, when I received
the word of his passing on April 29, 2014. It was, I must
admit, unexpected. Our Dr. L, as his graduate students
refer to him, was a man of many talents and a never-ending
list of ideas of how to improve the teaching and learning of
chemistry that needed to be investigated. The world will be
a little smaller without his wisdom and insights into both
his worlds: non-aqueous solvents and organometallic
pi-complexes (solution chemistry that focused primarily on
anhydrous liquid ammonia)and chemical education.
In his bench research he is
most noted for the discovery of the auride ion, Au-.
So rarely does a metal form an anion, but if one existed,
Joe Lagowski was the one to think outside the box and
persevere until the task was complete, or maybe I should
say, "press on", one of his favorite expressions whether in
the wet lab or classroom. He always gave his graduate
students just enough guidance that we could learn from our
mistakes but then we were to simply "press on". In the
chemical education world his presence was great, though too
short lived because he was still very active and still
providing "opportunities" to further research in chemical
education. For over 20 years he was the editor of the
Journal of Chemical Education (1979-1996) and also
helped start the African Journal of Chemical Education.
These experiences brought him into a world linked by the
love of the study of chemistry needed to advance not only
knowledge of the science but also knowledge of how it is
studied, taught, and learned.
Much closer to his adopted
home at The University of Texas at Austin, Dr. J. J.
Lagowski was instrumental in the formation of the Associated
Chemistry Teachers of Texas in 1981. This organization has
grown to over 400 members across the state of Texas and is
being touted as the model for the upcoming American
Association of Chemistry Teachers (AACT) due to begin in
September. In the 1989, he approached me about returning to
graduate school at The University of Texas at Austin where
he had been since 1959. I was considering his new program
where I could combine my interests in teaching chemistry
with the use of the computer in the classroom. I had only
possessed a personal computer for about three years but he
enticed me by describing how student-driven learning for
multitudes of people in every corner of the world could
happen with a single guide at some distant point. The role
of distant learning was one of his biggest passions and he
was actively changing how chemistry was taught by employing
these new teaching/learning tools in one of the first
student computer labs on campus. Self-directed chemistry
courses that emphasized laboratory skills and techniques
where students had to exhibit mastery will survive as one of
his many legacies.
Professor Lagowski's
contributions to teaching chemistry in the USA are
impressive, but his global reach through IUPAC and with the
help of many professors across the world, like Ameen F. M.
Fahmy of Egypt, have awaken those who teach chemistry with a
systematic approach to teaching and learning chemistry. The
Systemic Approach to Teaching and Learning Chemistry [SATLC]
tied with systemic
assessment
[SA]to
evaluate student
learning outcomes highlights how student everywhere need to
have mentors and instructors who understand how humans learn
and how new knowledge can be retained.
Dr. Lagowski received his
first PhD from Michigan State University in 1957 and his
second PhD from Cambridge University in 1959 when he then
joined the esteemed faculty at The University of Texas at
Austin. By 1967, he had been promoted to Full Professor in
the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. He officially
retired in 2008, but as Professor Emeritus continued to seek
ways to use online learning to bridge the gap between
secondary and post-secondary education. n lieu of flowers,
the family requests donations be made to the J.J. Lagowski
Undergraduate Scholarship in Chemistry at the University of
Illinois, where Dr. Lagowski received his bachelor’s degree
in 1952. To contribute, checks made payable to the
University of Illinois can be mailed to the Department of
Chemistry c/o Kristin Lang, 109 Noyes Laboratory, 600 S.
Mathews Box D-1, Urbana, IL 61801.
In his own words, "Chemical
education is a discipline that springs naturally from the
recognition of three important observations: that chemistry
is the central science; that chemistry is, and always has
been, useful to the evolving progress of civilization; and
that our understanding of chemistry is not, and probably
never will be, complete."
Press
on, Dr. L, we love you and will miss you!
Noted awards:
50 Year Service Award,
American Chemical Society, 2005
Outstanding Service Award from the
Division of Chemical
Education of the American Chemical Society, 2003
Elected member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, 2001
Northeastern Section of The American Chemical Society James
Flack Norris Award for Outstanding Achievement in The
Teaching of Chemistry, 1999
Southwest Regional ACS Award, 1996
ACS Award in Chemical Education, sponsored by Union Carbide
Corporation, 1989
Minnie Stevens Piper
Foundation Piper Professor for outstanding scholarly and
academic achievement, 1983
Chemical National
Manufacturing Association Award for Excellence in Chemistry
Teaching, 1981
Fellow, American
Association for the Advancement of Science, 1981
Marshall Scholar, H.R.M.'s
Brittanic Government, 1959
