2015 Metcalf Award Recipient: Binyomin Abrams
Binyomin Abrams is Senior Lecturer of Chemistry in the College of Arts & Sciences. His scholarship and mentoring focus on theoretical physical chemistry and the development of novel tools to improve the teaching of chemistry.
In the seven years he has been a member of the faculty, Dr. Abrams has shown that with intellectual rigor and unbridled energy and imagination, even the weightiest scientific concepts can be made understandable and entertaining. Often the first instructor Chemistry majors encounter, he has been commended for pioneering efforts to help incoming freshmen develop into promising young scientists and communicators able to compellingly present their discoveries.
Dr. Abrams’ students praise a teaching approach that’s at once demanding of their very best and exceedingly accessible, with humor-laced lectures and an open-door policy for those striving to grasp new material. In the words of his nominator, Dr. Abrams “has unequivocally demonstrated that he is one of our most innovative, appreciated, and influential teachers; an outstanding student mentor; and a powerful voice for curricular reform and improvement.”
Dr. Abrams’ pursuit of pedagogical innovation has been tireless. A believer in the power of language to enhance understanding, he collaborated with colleagues to launch the BU Chemical Writing Program for students in Intensive Freshman Chemistry to hone research-based writing skills specific to chemistry. Other efforts, from a series of hands-on tutorials to make challenging coursework accessible for first-year students to a “boot camp” in teaching fundamentals for future instructors are producing similar results: a remarkable fluency and abiding passion for scientific exploration.
Dr. Abrams earned his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and his doctorate in Theoretical Physical Chemistry from New York University. The author of numerous widely cited papers, talks, and lab manuals, he is a past recipient of the Templeton Prize for Excellence in Student Advising.