Michael Hill, Fletcher Jones Foundation Professor of Chemistry at Occidental, was presented the 2027 Award for Research at an Undergraduate Institution by the American Chemical Society (ACS). This award recognizes a chemistry professor whose lab research and mentorship has contributed significantly to the development of undergraduate students.
According to Hill, the award is representative of a history of undergraduate research. Hill said he started to be interested in chemistry in the ’80s during his junior year at Macalester College.
“Undergraduate research got its foothold in the ’80s,” Hill said. “Occidental was one of the first small colleges in the country to do undergraduate research.”
Hill said he learned he would be receiving the award in August, but had to wait to tell his family and friends until the news became public.
“I got a phone call from the president of the ACS, and he told me about the award, but the condition is strict silence,” Hill said. “There were a number of people I would’ve loved to tell, but I couldn’t for about four weeks.”
Skylar Cottell (junior) said she was inspired to declare a chemistry major after taking “Advanced Placement General Chemistry” taught by professor Hill.
“[Hill] completely changed the course of what I was going to do here,” Cottell said. “I came into my first class thinking I’ll be a computer science major and then I left being like, ‘I am a chemistry major.’”
Parker Glynn (senior) said he was interested in chemistry before college, and Hill recognized his passion for research.
“Fortunately enough, Mike [Hill] was my randomly assigned advisor, but the way I really met him was when I took his advanced Genchem class [during] my freshman year,” Glynn said. “He got his hooks in me pretty fast. Mike tends to handpick people, especially from that specific kind of class.”
According to Hill, his research process is similar to the main themes of chemistry he teaches his students.
“We have this concept, […] kinetics: It’s more concerned with how you go from point A to point B,” Hill said. “Our research kind of meanders around because I don’t really care as much about what we’re driving at.”
Glynn said he has learned that the research process is more important than the final result, and Hill embodies this in his research and teaching.
“Mike believes in the value of making your own mistakes in the lab and learning from those,” Glynn said. “When you have a question in class, he’ll sit there and explain it 10 times in 10 different ways if he has to.”
Jackson Birchler (sophomore) said he recently joined Hill’s research lab, and that Hill has provided him with new perspective on the structure of class and research.
“We’re going to dive into some of the weird nitty-gritty stuff that will help explain why the things do the things that they do,” Birchler said. “He very much structures his classes to be focused on how much you learn and how much effort you put in, as opposed to how well you can do on a test.”
Cottell said Hill brings forth a new perspective to teaching, which creates a space devoid of the stereotypically sterile environment of a research lab.
“He taught with so much passion; he was so interested in what he was teaching that I couldn’t help but also be interested in it,” Cottell said. “It was such a breath of fresh air. I was scared everyone was going to be super strict, but he was so understanding and passionate.”
Hill said collaboration can bring insights that are absent from individual research.
“My students and I are learning this together,” Hill said. “Everybody that is a contributor always looks at it slightly differently, brings a different perspective, a different skill set to it.”
Birchler said the lab has welcomed him and provided comfort.
“[The lab is] more like a family than just a place of work,” Birchler said. “So many people will come back and work in his lab, even after they graduate.”
According to Glynn, his experience at Occidental would not be the same without Hill’s lab and the other students he works with.
“I would not still be at Oxy if I had not found the Hill lab,” Glynn said. “Genuinely, it is the best family I could ever ask for. They’re the reason I’ve done three summers here, and I want to do a fourth.”
Glynn said Hill has been a prominent mentor in his life and that he admires Hill’s passion and intelligence.
“I really like just sitting next to people while he’s explaining,” Glynn said. “If I could pay him a million dollars and say, ‘Tell me exactly what I’m going to do for the rest of my life,’ it would have been done three years ago.”
According to Hill, the chemistry department stands on the shoulders of its previous faculty members.
“Nobody in the department could do what they’re doing without the department culture that we’ve inherited,” Hill said. “I really want to express a lot of gratitude to the previous faculty in the department for setting this up. As far as research goes, it’s always a group effort.”
Contact Cole Banks at cbanks@oxy.edu
