Year
2009
Institution
University of Liverpool
Job Title
Senior Lecturer, Department of Chemistry
National Teaching Fellow 2009
Dr Nick Greeves is a Senior Lecturer, Year 1 Coordinator, Director of Learning and Teaching in the Department of Chemistry and e-Learning Sub-Dean for Science and Engineering at the University of Liverpool. A Cambridge graduate, he also obtained his PhD in synthetic organic chemistry there in 1986. Nick then held a Harkness Fellowship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and at Stanford University, California, and a Research Fellowship at Cambridge before joining Liverpool in 1989.
He has been an advocate for technology enhanced learning since before it was recognised as important. Henry Rzepa, Imperial College London, says: "Nick is part of that new generation of higher education chemistry teacher who has adopted modern methods with great enthusiasm and considerable skill. He was an ardent exponent of the potential of the Internet and this is currently exemplified by his remarkable site, ChemTube3D."
"He is one of the best teachers I have come across and has the amazing ability of making complex organic chemistry accessible to the weakest of students. He combines clarity of vision with simple uncluttered pictures to get his message across." Professor Varinder K. Aggarwal, Bristol.
Neville Reed, Director of Communication and Member Services, Royal Society of Chemistry, wrote, "Nick has made a significant contribution to the teaching and learning of chemistry over recent years. He has authored an undergraduate textbook that took a welcomed new approach to the subject. He has taken his innovative approach on-line with the creation of ChemTube3D (http://www.chemtube3d.com) which is gaining significant international attention. He is dedicated to his subject, an innovative and enthusiastic teacher and is driving new approaches to the teaching of chemistry."
In the recent Periodic Review of Chemistry (December 2008) the external assessor recognised his textbook as "the standard undergraduate textbook on organic chemistry in the UK and in many countries overseas" and Nick was described as " a world leader in developing web-based three dimensional animations to support teaching in organic chemistry - a new tool that really does open up new horizons for both the student and the teacher."