About Dr. Wettack

F. Sheldon Wettack, Dean of Faculty and Professor of Chemistry Emeritus at Harvey Mudd College , has recently returned to Hope College as a Visiting Professor of Chemistry. He has an AB and MA from San Jose State College and a PhD in physical chemistry from UT-Austin. He served as a high school science teacher prior to completing the doctoral degree. His initial appointment in higher education was in the chemistry department at Hope College (1967) where he mentored about three-dozen undergraduates with support from a variety of individual research grants, including a Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award. His administrative experience began in 1974 when he was appointed Dean for the Natural Sciences at Hope. He also served as the Arts and Sciences dean at the University of Richmond (1982-89) and as president of Wabash College (1989-93) before moving to Harvey Mudd in 1993 as VP/Dean of Faculty. He served in this position until July 2004. Since his retirement he has been at Hope, teaching on a part time basis and carrying out other projects for the chemistry department and science division, particularly in connection with the College’s HHMI grant. During 2006, he also served as the Interim Director of the Pew Midstates Consortium for Science and Mathematics of which Hope is a member. Dr. Wettack has been active nationally in Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL) and the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) and has served on a variety of civic and professional boards. He is currently a member of the Advisory Board for MentorNet, an electronic mentoring network for women in science and engineering and serves on the Planning Committee for CUR2006, the biannual conference of CUR.