Teaching Professor Joseph Keiser Announces Retirement
The Department of Chemistry extends its best wishes to Teaching Professor Joseph Keiser, who announced his retirement from the department in 2020.
Keiser has been a faculty member at Penn State for twenty-nine years, serving as the director of general chemistry labs and as an assistant head for undergraduate education.
Keiser came to Penn State in 1991 after previously holding positions at Pfizer, University of Richmond, and Virginia Commonwealth University. After arriving at Penn State, Keiser focused on revitalizing the general chemistry lab courses and taking on leadership roles within the undergraduate program. During his early years at Penn State, he worked to improve the training and supervision of chemistry teaching assistants (TAs) by instituting a TA training class, holding regular TA meetings, and working directly with TAs in Whitmore Lab. He also instituted the practice of small-scale chemistry in lab courses, which uses much smaller amounts of chemicals than a traditional lab courses. Keiser’s changes made the running of general chemistry labs safer, cheaper, more environmentally friendly, and more conducive to inquiry-style experiments. These changes have continued to benefit the Department of Chemistry over the years.
Throughout his career, Keiser also oversaw and taught hundreds of sections of introductory chemistry lab courses and guided many students through the chemistry curriculum. In order to enhance these courses, Keiser developed a specialty section approach to general chemistry labs. These specialty sections are smaller sections of courses that typically have high enrollments. Each section focuses on a particular theme, for example, biological chemistry, material science, environmental science, and food chemistry. Keiser is particularly proud of the food chemistry section that he created, which includes both lab experiments and edible experiments that are performed in a special teaching kitchen.
During his tenure, Keiser oversaw the 2016 Whitmore Lab renovation project, and served as one of the founding members of the Chemical Education Interest Group here at Penn State. This group includes faculty and staff who have a significant interest in improving the quality of undergraduate instruction. It has met regularly since his arrival in 1991. In 2010, Keiser was involved in the formation of an informal group of Big 10 general chemistry lab directors, which continues to meet to share ideas and innovations.
His achievements have been honored with the Eberly College of Science Alumni Society Distinguished Service Award in 1998, the John Lowe Excellence in Teaching and Service Award in 2012, and the Priestley Prize for Lifetime Achievement in 2020.
Although Keiser has retired, he plans to remain involved with the Penn State community. “I’m going to stay involved in a number of volunteer roles,” he explains, “I will continue to be involved with the Chem Ed Interest Group. I will also be co-advising two student clubs, and I will be heading up the department’s United Way fundraising events.”
Outside of this volunteer work, Keiser plans to enjoy his retirement with family and friends. In particular, he hopes to write a biography of his mother. “My mother was a member of the greatest generation. She lived a fascinating and exemplary life,” he adds. “I interviewed her quite a few times before she passed away in the hope of inspiring my family with her story. I’d like to put this information into a book.”
Although Keiser will no longer be on campus full time, the legacy of his work and the initiatives he launched will continue to benefit members of the Penn State chemistry community every day. His work shaped the education of many young chemists and scientists, and the words of advice that he often offered his students will continue to have an impact on their careers and lives: “Be empathetic, rejoice when others do well, hurt for them when they don’t.”
“My time in the Penn State Chemistry Department has been a dream come true,” Keiser said. “It has given me the kind of experience that I was hoping for when I left Pfizer and set my sights on a teaching career. It has been a great fit for me and my family.”