Sticking With Chemistry Paid Off for Novak
by Adam Becerra '12
When Dr. Walter Novak was a senior in high school he took an advanced chemistry class and went to the teacher right away thinking he couldn’t do the class. “I stuck with it and really enjoyed the class; I did well in the class and that’s what partially led me to taking chemistry classes in college.” Novak said. Now, he is the BKT Assistant Professor of Chemistry and one of the newest tenure track faculty members at Wabash.  Novak studied chemistry at Southern Illinois University and then went to graduate school at the University of California, unsure which career path he was going to take. He was interested in math, physics, computer science, but his interest in chemistry came to a climax with in his organic chemistry class. His other chemistry classes did not help him make a decision in pursuing a career, but after his organic chemistry class he knew he wanted to be a chemistry professor.
I think it was both the material in the course and the professor,” Novak said. “Dr. Tim Patrick was a great teacher and had great rapport with the students. His pace of teaching was perfect for me and if he sensed the students were having trouble processing the subject he would say, ‘Okay, let’s stop and take a break, has anyone heard a good joke lately?’ This allowed a mental "breather" for us students and then we could go over the topic again. This is important for a class like Organic Chemistry. Plus OChem is really the first class where you really start to see how to use chemistry to build complex molecules. It can be very impressive.” One of Novak’s scholastic passions is biochemistry. However, he also likes the classes he is teaching now: general chemistry and organic chemistry. “General chemistry is where you want to reach the most people so they want to be chemistry major. Chemistry 111 is where you want to stay in this major, and organic is tough for a lot of students. So the idea is to make a difference in what the students think of organic [chemistry]. Novak did a Post Doctoral, which furthers experience in the area of study one has learned. He went and worked with undergraduates in the research lab at a small liberal arts college called Brandeis University and enjoyed it greatly. With this great first experience teaching at a liberal arts college Novak was excited for Wabash when he found the open position. Novak said he found Wabash through advertisement and was interested because of a friend from graduate school who went to Wabash. His friend Ross Weatherman '91, who is now at Rose-Hulman, described Wabash to Novak and asked whether or not he would like to have a job there and Novak replied with a question. “Are you kidding? How does this not sound like an ideal job to most people?” He thinks being a professor at the College is a great job to have. “The fact that you can not only do what you like doing, but can keep educating yourself by teaching C&T courses or freshman tutorials is great.”  Novak soon came to Crawfordsville to see Wabash up close. “I came up for my visit and I really liked it. It was definitely my top choice, which was maybe surprising to me, maybe not. Then they offered me the job.”
Novak enjoys his Wabash experience so far. “I really like it. I’m very excited about all the students coming back. I’ve had a great summer. I’ve been here since July and the people have just been fantastic, really helpful, and really engaging. I’m sure the students will be the same, so I’m really excited about meeting them. Novak participates in a variety of hobbies. He likes to cook with his wife Kathleen a lot, feeding their three-year-old James and their infant daughters Kate and Carrie. “We do a lot of eating in my house.” Another hobby of Novak’s is astronomy. “My dad used to take me, my brother, and sister out when we were kids to sit take out the telescope and look at some stars. So that’s something that I still like doing.” He also likes observing art, symphonies, and plays. “These are things we haven’t done in the last three years when we started having kids because it’s such hard work. But we do like those things.” He is eager, though, about the future events he can take his kids to. “I’m getting especially excited about going to the football games which is something I can bring my kids to and let them get all crazy.” Novak debated dropping his high school chemistry class, but instead undertook chemistry classes in college, graduate school, and eventually taught the subject, because he never stopped trying. “Keep trying,” Novak advises new student. “Really sit and think about a problem, see if your answer makes sense, and if it doesn’t then try to figure out why. Treat it like a puzzle.”
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