- Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer
Dr. Willard Pinnock examines a test tube at the chemistry laboratory at the University of the West Indies.
Avia Ustanny, Outlook Writer
LECTURER IN physical chemistry at the University of the West Indies, Dr. Willard Pinnock received the UWI/Guardian Life Premium Teachers Award, and the Vice Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching, last month.
Dr. Pinnock, who is a lecturer in physical chemistry, says he was stunned. But, his colleagues and students were not.
Dr. Paul Reese, professor of bio-organic chemistry, said in his letter of nomination for Dr. Pinnock: "Physical chemistry is an area which depends heavily on Mathematics and can be somewhat abstract ... but he has attacked this challenge head on, developing pictorial represen-tations and analogies as well as writing course work material which have assisted undergraduates in grasping the more theoretical aspects of the discipline."
In recognition of his exceptional teaching abilities and an undisguised interest in the welfare of students, he was also appointed director of studies and chairman of the undergraduate committee in the Department of Chemistry.
Willard Pinnock was born to Myrtle and Vincent Pinnock, dressmaker and shopkeeper, in Highgate, St. Mary, where he attended primary school.
Later he attended St. George's College in Kingston.
Love for teaching
Willard arrived at the UWI in 1964 on a teacher's scholarship he said and so was always interested in teaching. The concentration on chemistry happened, he said, because this department at the university simply had the most resources. In 1967, he collected his first degree in Chemistry with a minor in Mathematics.
Receiving his Ph.D. in medical biophysics in 1976, the scientist has pursued careers as a medical physicist before getting tenure at the UWI Department of Chemistry. He was also a post doctoral research fellow in the Department of Physics at the University of Birmingham, England.
The last two decades have been spent concentrating more and more on teaching chemistry students of all levels.
Paul Clare, one of his final year students, says this of the lecturer:
"His lectures are always delivered with much enthusiasm, precision and a deep sense of interest in his students' learning. His invitations to "see me after class" to clarify questions are always taken up because he appears to enjoy these after lecture talks with us."
And Romola Rodriques, a past student said in words of commendation:
"Considering the unmistakable difficulty that Quantum Chemistry posed for all of us, Dr. Pinnock masterfully introduced the topic in an organised, purposefully measured and manageable way. He was astutely able to ignite our interest."
Faculty member, Professor Ronald Young, noted in his letter of recommendation that Dr. Pinnock is quite popular with both undergraduate and post graduate students, with a score of 4.6 out of 5 on the assessment of lecturers performance.
"He is good at teaching and his rapport with students is well recognised," this colleague stated.
Dr. Pinnock explains, "I have discovered that a powerful tool for gaining students attention and interest lies in showing one's own enthusiasms and interest in what one is teaching.
"I have tried to show this enthusiasm in my lecturers and I must say that I have found it particularly pleasant these past couple of years to be told about my obvious love for thermodynamics, considering that I found the subject so boring and difficult to understand as a student."
Published research
He also supplements his lecturing enthusiasm by giving prizes to students who perform the best in his course.
Another aspect of the lecturer's work is his research. He has published numerous papers on such matters as atmospheric pollution, radioactivity in Jamaican bauxite waste, trends in total ozone, radiological aspects of red mud and other topics which might strike the reader as rather esoteric.
Dr. Pinnock, who has also done work in nuclear science, has visited Chernobyl, a city in the Ukraine in the former Soviet Union, which was the site of the world's worst nuclear reactor accident in 1986. He has also turned out work on radiation and chemical hazards. In the process of such research, he was also awarded several fellowships and grants of significant monetary value.
Most recently, he received the environmental foundation of Jamaica ward, valued at $3,763,000 for the project Development of a sustainable air pollution monitoring programme for Kingston.
The awards received this year are not his first. In 1999, Dr. Pinnock was awarded the Monsignor Gladstone Wilson award for teaching from the St. George's College Old Boys Association.
Dr. Pinnock remembers St. George's with fondness. "One of my past Chemistry teachers at St. George's College and someone who had influence on my life in other ways, is The Most Reverend Lawrence Burke, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kingston."
Public and extra departmental service for the professor includes 20 years of work with the National Radiation and safety Council of the Ministry of Health. He has also been a radiology consultant with the Department of Surgery, Radiology and Intensive care at the University Hospital of the West Indies.
Family
He is involved in reviewing the most recent 'Radiation Safety and Control Bill' prior to its submission to Parliament.
Dr. Pinnock is married to Georgia, who has taught at Wolmer's Girls School for the past 37 years and is currently vice-principal there.
The Pinnocks are parents of four daughters, the first of whom, Dr. Carolyn Pinnock-Ramsaram is a paediatric surgeon at the Bustamante Children's Hospital. Daughter Heather is a project manager at the National Housing Trust and was one of the persons responsible for the Emancipation Park development.
Daughter Catherine is studying culinary management with intentions to become a chef. Last daughter, Georgina, is an architectural student at the University of Technology in Kingston (UTech).
The most recent award he said, conveniently facilitated the payment of her school fees.
At home, the professor engages in such hobbies as wine brewing from local fruits and once developed "a sorrel wine which was quite good." He will get back to it, he says, when green sorrel becomes once more readily available.
He enjoys walks and is an active member of the St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Papine. He is also a former chairman of the Church Council, an extraordinary minister of communion and liaison person for the church for staff and students of both UWI and UTech.
Today, he is still feeling the aftershock of receiving two teaching awards at once and also feels vindicated in the face of those who say that chemistry is not a very rewarding field locally.
"When you love what you do, the rewards will come," he says.
