Benjamin J. Schwartz

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UCLA Chemistry and Biochemistry Professor Benjamin Schwartz is described by his colleagues as a triple threat: a professor extraordinarily devoted to research, teaching and service. Schwartz’s research covers the broad area of electron transfer processes, a set of phenomena that is fundamental to many fields of chemistry, physics and biology.

A graduate of the University of Michigan and UC Berkeley, Schwartz is passionate about both his research and his students’ learning. He stands apart for his ability to bring “real science” – that is, research-level results and methods – to all of his students, from first-year undergraduates to upper-level graduate students. His dedication to student learning was apparent during his first quarter at UCLA in 1997 while teaching a chemistry class. Schwartz introduced a simple but very effective method of evaluating his course by asking his students to submit a short list of questions and concerns regarding the course each week. Schwartz then personally responded to each question. The method of “Schwartz cards” became an effective way to gain feedback throughout the quarter, and is now used by many other professors with great success.

Those early years at UCLA also marked the beginning of Schwartz’s daily visits to first-year doctoral students for informal discussions, where he answered their questions and gave impromptu lessons for clarification. Notably, Schwartz maintains this level of commitment to teaching, as exemplified by comments in his student evaluations in 2002 stating that “a student couldn’t ask for a better instructor,” while evaluations in 2007 acknowledged Schwartz as “the greatest teacher I ever had.”

Schwartz has remained so dedicated to the art of teaching that students of all levels have been inspired to follow his example as educators. Van Mai, a first-year undergraduate, assures that Schwartz “is the kind of teacher who gives me hope and belief in the career of teaching.” Mauricio Comas-Garcia, a graduate student, writes, “Even though I know following Professor Schwartz’s model is going to be one of the hardest things in my future professional life, I would like to be able to give myself to my students the way that he does everyday.”

Schwartz brings the same devotion to his role in the department, acting as physical chemistry graduate advisor and currently serving as the department graduate advisor. He has represented the physical chemistry division on the departmental Executive Committee, and he served as the department’s elected representative to the College Faculty Executive Committee for four years. He is also noted for significant service to the scientific community, having organized a number of symposia at national meetings and in 2005, becoming senior editor of the Journal of Physical Chemistry, a leading journal in his field of research.