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ANDOVER— Instructor in chemistry Paul Cernota, Ph.D., will be inducted into the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) Aula Laudis Society tonight at an awards ceremony at Northeastern University in Boston. The Aul Laudis Society is the hall of fame for outstanding teachers in the profession. “Doc C”, as he is known among his students, was perplexed when he opened an envelope from the Northeast Section of the ACS last week. He thought he was getting an invitation to watch the awards ceremony. Instead, Cernota and three or four others will be honored with induction into the small circle of highly distinguished teachers of chemistry in the northeast.
Kevin Cardozo, chair of the chemistry department, was inducted last year. He told the Phillipian, “Dr. Cernota has become one of the veterans in the department and over time he will become a legend based on his many years of successful teaching, so it is fitting that such an accomplished teacher receive this award.”
Cernota said that he believed that one of the key factors in determining who receives the honor is how well his or her students perform on the Ashdown Exam, a qualifying exam for the United States Chemistry Olympiad. Andover sent its top two students from several advanced chemistry courses to Simmons College on April 5 to take the exam, and they distinguished themselves.
A magna cum laude graduate of Princeton, where he was a National Merit Scholar, Cernota went on to do his doctorate at the University of California, Berkeley, where he studied under National Medal of Science winner Gabor Somojai, well known as a surface science researcher.
Cernota has taught at Andover since 1999. He teaches introductory, honors, and AP chemistry, serves as a house counselor in Bartlet Hall, and is an advisor to gay, lesbian, and bisexual students. Active with the Boston Gay Men’s chorus, Cernota will tour Berlin, Prague, and Wroclaw, Poland this summer with the group.
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