Wofford professor selected as one of the best in U.S.
April 4, 2012
Dr. Charlie Bass featured in Princeton Review’s ‘Best 300 Professors’
SPARTANBURG, SC – April 4, 2012 – Dr. Charles G. (Charlie) Bass, the Dr. and Mrs. Larry Hearn McCalla Professor of Chemistry at Wofford College, has been named one of the country’s best undergraduate teachers by The Princeton Review.
The Massachusetts-based education services company – best known forits test-preparation courses, books and study survey-based collegerankings – profiles Bass in its new book, The Best 300 Professors(Random House / Princeton Review).
Publishedtoday (April 3, 2012), the book is a collaboration of The PrincetonReview and RateMyProfessors.com, the highest-trafficked collegeprofessor ratings site in the U.S. The book features top professors inmore than 60 fields, ranging from accounting to neuroscience to sportsmanagement. They hail from 122 colleges and universities across thecountry. A complete list of the professors is accessible at www.princetonreview.com/best-professors.aspx.
The profile of Bass notes that he prefers to go straight to havinghis students attempt to solve problems. He says in the book, That way,I can help them correct misconceptions. I think this is much moreeffective than watching me solve problems for them.
Bass believes that positive reinforcement helps students gainconfidence to become willing to work harder, his profile reads, notingthat he cares deeply that his students get it.
I will work as hard as I can to help them understand the course material, Bass says.
Bass receives praise from Wofford’s senior administration for histeaching style and success, and for his commitment to providing the bestlearning environment for his students.
A great professor is measured by many things, the success of hisformer students, among others, President Benjamin B. Dunlap says. Whatis intangible is the deeper sort of lesson – the passionate commitmentto learning, endless efforts to enhance one’s mastery, and therecognition that the ultimate purpose of such striving is not mereself-promotion. Charlie Bass teaches all these truths in unforgettableways, and he embodies them as well.
Dr. David S. Wood, senior vice president for academic affairs anddean of the college, adds, Charlie Bass is a marvelous professordedicated to improving our world through perfecting his craft ofteaching at the highest level. He is remarkably committed to ourstudents and our college and sets a high standard for us all.
Bass also receives credit for working tirelessly to build the neworganic chemistry laboratory, dedicated earlier this year to Dr. WilliamP. Cavin, a 1945 Wofford graduate and professor of chemistry from 1946to 1988.
Dr. Bass traveled with me to many cities to present the case forsupport of the new organic lab, Marion Peavey, senior vice presidentfor development and college relations, says. Invariably, former Woffordstudents of his – most of whom are now in the medical profession –would tell me that he was their favorite professor, primarily because ofhis teaching skills and his willingness to take extra time to help themunderstand complex problems.
The profile of Bass in The Best 300 Professors continues: All inall, he looks to disarm the common perceptions of the difficulty of orgo(organic chemistry, which Bass teaches), and to make it ‘interestingand fun.’
One student notes, Dr. Bass is awesome and makes the incredible painof learning organic chemistry slightly bearable. Definitelyrecommended. Another says, Organic chemistry is an impossible subject,but his funny personality and perseverance in teaching make youcomfortable in trying to learn it.
Bass credits his wife, Carri, and children, David and Michael withsupporting him in his teaching career. I am blessed to have a verypatient wife and children. Their love and support throughout my careerhave made it possible for me to spend extra time outside of class withmy students. Carri in particular has been unbelievably supportive. Sheis always there when I need her most. Her words of encouragement alwayslift me up when I need it most.
In its profile of Wofford, the book notes that the college offersdemanding and challenging academics that expand students’ intellectualindependence, a phenomenal faculty, and highly intelligent andextremely effective communicators, according to undergraduates.
Professors at Wofford want to help students gain researchopportunities, the book notes, quoting one student: The fact thatprofessors are the ones that teach the labs speaks volumes.
The profile continues: In addition to having a well-connected alumninetwork, Wofford has great success in placing students in graduate andprofessional programs.
Bass received the Roger Milliken Award for Excellence in the Teachingof Science at Wofford in 2006. He also has been recognized numeroustimes as the Faculty Member of the year by the Panhellenic Council atWofford and by the Wofford Campus Union. He serves as the pre-dentaladviser for the Wofford Student Affairs Committee. He also is the scoutadviser to Wofford’s Pi Iota Chapter of Alpha Phi Omega, a nationalservice fraternity.
A graduate of William Carey University in Hattiesburg, Miss., Bassreceived his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Tennessee. He didpost-doctoral research at the University of British Columbia and theCancer Research Institute at Arizona State University. He has taught atWofford since 1988.
Bass participated in the Green Chemistry in Education Workshop at theUniversity of Oregon and participates annually at the Dental Dayadvising conference at the Medical University of South Carolina. He is amember of the American Chemical Society (Organic and EducationalDivisions) and the Western Carolinas Division of the American ChemicalSociety.
Theselection of the best 300 professors took into account qualitative andquantitative data from survey findings and ratings collected by both ThePrinceton Review and RateMyProfessor.com. The professors in the bookare not ranked, but each one profiled received high ratings from theirimportant audiences, beneficiaries and critics: the students they teachand inspire.
