Joining Temple Honors from the College of Science and Technology’s department of Chemistry is Professor Steven Fleming. An alumni of the University of Utah and the University of Wisconsin, Professor Fleming has been at Temple since 2008. Prior to coming to Temple, he taught for 22 years at Brigham Young University in Utah, where he conducted research on carbon/carbon bonding forming reactions. Since moving to Temple, his research has shifted to a focus on the development of tools for chemical education, including textbooks and visualizations. He helped develop both the ORA (Organic Reactions Animations) and BioORA (Bio-Organic Reactions Animations) programs, tools used by chemists and chemical educators to help students visualize molecular reactions.   

Fleming attributes his love of organic chemistry to how tangible and relevant to real life the field is. He points out how logical it is despite its perception in academia. “What fascinates me is the beauty and the simplicity of it.” Fleming said, “I marvel at the complexity that you can get starting from simple molecules.”  

Why Temple Honors?   

Professor Fleming cites the deep intellectual curiosity of Temple Honors students as a driving force behind his decision to come onboard as Honors-affiliated faculty. “Honors students just want more,” Fleming said.  

On top of this, Professor Fleming, who already teaches both Honors Organic Chemistry I and II, felt a desire to get more involved with the Temple Honors community. “It’s a way to get more involved, to interact more with students,” said Fleming, who emphasizes close relationships with students through his “book reports” in his Honors classes. Students read one of a number of optional texts before discussing them in groups of two or three over lunch with Professor Fleming. Fleming hopes that his new role as Honors Affiliated Faculty will allow him to continue to expand opportunities for students such as this.  

Goals And Plans for Temple Honors  

Professor Fleming’s primary goal for his tenure as Honors Affiliated Faculty is to instill the same love he has for the organic, molecular side of chemistry into his future students. One of the ways he aims to do this is by developing a Chemistry Gen-Ed class that would be available to Honors students. “Right now, Chemistry has two Gen Ed courses, one of them is the Chemistry of Wine. It is a very  numbers-based course,” Fleming said. “I would like to offer a very organic chemistry-based course. I would get molecules involved.”  

Fleming has suggested classes in general education. He would love to see the introduction of a Gen Ed specifically geared towards getting non-STEM students interested in organic chemistry. Fleming’s vision is of a class that examines everyday molecules students would encounter or use regularly in their lives - a class for students to learn, “What is this stuff?” Fleming is also interested in teaching an Honors Special Topics course on the chemistry of psychoactive drugs, a course that would explore how commonly available molecules are modified and become illegal street drugs.  

Professor Fleming hosts office hours in the Honors Affiliated Faculty space in The Huddle, Tuttleman 201, on Fridays from 1 – 3pm.