Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, College of Engineering & Science
2007
Bio:
For decades, Dr. Shula Schlick has been a tireless researcher within the UDM Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry. She has forged numerous connections and professional collaborations with other scientists throughout the world, with especially fruitful partnerships occurring between her and her research group on the one hand, and researchers in Poland, Sweden, and Japan on the other.
Dr. Schlick's publication rate, and the high level of her published scholarship, are an envy to many, and are equaled by very few. Conversations between one of her nominators, Mark Benvenuto, and several department chair persons at research universities throughout the country, confirm that her funding level, publication rate, and publication prestige level are equal to or exceed many of their own colleagues.
But there is much more to Professor Schlick than just her research. She is consistently rated as a "tough but fair" teacher by students in her graduate and undergraduate classes. She expects and demands a great deal from her students, and she gets it. None of her students have ever accused her of being easy; but then, none have ever claimed to have completed one of her classes and failed to learn either. Hundreds of men and women who are working in the field today owe much of their understanding and expertise to Dr. Schlick.
Finally, Dr. Shula Schlick has been a champion for women in science for many, many years. From a past in which she must have been the only woman in the "smoke filled room," to today, she never ceases to advocate for women in chemistry and in science based fields in general. As such, she has become a role model for many young women who are in, or have been, in the department. In an era when there is talk of "having it all," Shula Schlick provides us a model of one who does it all, from rearing a family while excelling in a career to reading Proust – in French of course – over the summer.
Dr. Schlick remains committed to her work in the department and the college, and is a definite asset to UDM.
Dr. Schlick was presented the award by Gerard L. Stockhausen, S.J., President, University of Detroit Mercy on November 2, 2007.