As the fall semester nears, our department must continue without the aid of our beloved adjunct instructor, Clark Hartford, who passed away in May. Hartford taught in our department for over 20 years in courses ranging from the freshman level for both science and non-science majors to advanced analytical chemistry for our majors. He taught year-round, including the summer, sometimes teaching multiple sections of a class. For the past few years Hartford had been teaching the freshman-level introductory chemistry laboratory taken mostly by pre-nursing majors.
The picture above shows Hartford at about 75 years old, but he taught his last class this spring at 91 years old, literally working until the end. He was planning to teach for us again this fall. Hartford truly cared for his students as evidenced by his eagerness to meet students outside of class and accommodate those who missed an experiment. He was not content to let a student slide by or fail. Like all our adjunct instructors, Hartford played a vital role in our department. To honor his memory our department awarded a one-time scholarship to the last chemistry major who he taught this past year, Alexandra Ibarra. To learn more about instructor Clark Hartford 's amazing life, please read his obituary.
