For more information, contact Cindy Young, (937) 775-3232.
May 22, 1998
WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR
IGNITES NATIONAL INTEREST IN CHEMISTRY
John Fortman begins his chemistry demonstrations by exploding a balloon
filled with
helium and another with hydrogen, creating a thundering boom that illustrates the
properties of different gases.
"I like to start things off with a big bang," he says. "This one gets their attention right away."
Fortman's teaching methods have gotten the attention of the Chemical Manufacturers Association (CMA), too. Next month, it will award John Fortman, Ph.D., professor of chemistry at Wright State University, CMA's Responsible Care® National Catalyst Award recognizing excellence in classroom teaching and contributions that enrich the teaching of chemistry.
Although he teaches at the university level, Fortman has a unique relationship with pre-college science educators who applaud him for his teaching methods as well as his generosity in sharing them. "I feel he is one of the few people who really understands how kids learn and can present this understanding to others," says Lee Marek, an award-winning high school chemistry teacher from Naperville North High school in Illinois. Fortman's dedication to the teaching of chemistry is evidenced by the number and popularity of his published articles and videotape sets and the enthusiasm and size of crowds at his frequent presentations to teachers and school kids across the country.
Fortman is best-known by educators and students alike for his demonstrations and pyrotechnics illustrating principles of chemistry. For teachers without the means to travel to one of his presentations and those unable to recreate the demonstrations themselves in their own classroom, Fortman has developed videotaped demos. Red cabbage indicators, potato porcupine, super absorbent diapers and tomato juice all play starring roles in the more than 130 video demonstrations co-produced by Fortman with Wright State colleague Rubin Battino, Ph.D., professor emeritus of chemistry. More than 3,000 sets of the videos have been sold nationally to high school and college chemistry educators.
Fortman has also published 13 articles using pictorial analogies that make chemistry easier for educators to present and for high school students to comprehend. His cartoon-like pictures make comparisons of observable objects and actions to abstract laws and principle of chemistry more understandable and easier to remember. More than 400 copies of his set of analogies are in use worldwide, and have been praised by award-winning secondary school educators.
In the seven years since Fortman became an American Chemical Society tour speaker, he has made 100 presentations in 45 states. Among his most popular presentations are: "American's Funniest Chemical Videos: Dazzling Demos and Videotaped Bloopers," "John Adams, Saltpeter, and Black Powder: A Lighthearted Look at Some Colonial Chemistry," and "The Science of Magic." Since 1982, Fortman has spearheaded a Chemical Demonstration Outreach Program for Dayton area junior high and high school students which reaches 7,500 annually.
Fortman is one of four university chemistry professors who will receive the award for teachers at the CMA's annual meeting, June 35, in White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia. In addition to a medal and citation, Fortman will receive a $5,000 award. The CMA Responsible Care® National Catalyst Award was instituted in 1957.
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