Mary James

Finding the Right Chemistry

Mary James
Professor of Chemistry, Kent Campus

Professor Mary James makes it a point to ask the students in her Kent Campus chemistry class about their goals. Getting to know her students and their different goals is important for reasons other than personal. “It helps me to have a better idea what types of practical examples to pull into the class,” said the Outstanding Faculty Award winner for 2004-05.

Whether she is explaining the energy-producing chemical reactions of peanut butter and jelly inside the body, or how a person’s blood acts as a buffer system when a drug is taken, her objective is the same. She wants the chemistry she teaches to be interesting and engaging and have an everyday relevance. Ultimately, she wants to achieve “the wow factor.”

“That’s the best part for me, when the big light bulb goes off, and I know they understand. I get goose bumps. That’s why I went into teaching,” she said.

Teaching has been Dr. James’ dream since third grade. Having already earned a biology degree in 1987, she left her job of four years in Tifton, Georgia studying micotoxins in peanuts, corn and other feedstuffs and returned to Valdosta for a second bachelor’s in chemistry. She went on to receive her Ph.D. in chemistry from Auburn University and joined the Florida Community College faculty in 1996.

Chemistry, she realizes, can be scary. “It intimidates me,” she said with a laugh. “It’s a pretty deep subject so I teach the Mary version. If I can do it, anybody can. I came from a small school, a small class, a country background,” said James who was born in Utah and raised in rural Georgia. “Look at all the people who have chemistry degrees, all the pharmacists in the world. It’s doable.”

Sarah Boaz is now a believer. “I have gone on to tutor a subject that I was completely intimidated by in the beginning,” said Dr. James’ former student who just completed her pre-med degree at the University of North Florida and is applying for medical school.

Students appreciate her patient teaching of chemistry’s complexities. “If you want to learn, I will walk through snow to help you,” a fitting image from an avid North Carolina hiker. This is pep talk in Mary James’ version of chemistry, drawn from her own experience and designed to comfort and encourage. This phenomenal teacher knows how to help others find the right chemistry in life. In a nutshell, it’s fun and it’s working.

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