It's all about chemistry

David Matthews '65, co-creator of the successful anti-AIDS drug Viracept, discovered his love of chemistry at Earlham College.

"High school chemistry had been unappealing to me," he explained. "It emphasized rote memorization of unrelated facts with no attempt to show connectivity to underlying principles."

It wasn't until his sophomore year at Earlham, when he enrolled in the year-long introductory general chemistry sequence, that he realized how satisfying the discipline could be. The classroom experiences from that one year paved the way for a lifetime of scientific achievement.

"I found Earlham's method of teaching and learning chemistry much more intellectually satisfying because it revealed the underlying beauty of the science," said David. "It emphasized how observable phenomena could be explained using basic principles, while providing a sound basis for new experiments to get at undiscovered truths."

David was equally influenced by his encounters with Earlham professors. Their accessibility was a new experience for him, and one that he remembers to this day.

David and his wife Jeanne chose to support the sciences at Earlham. One program in particular has benefited greatly from his generosity — Earlham's summer science research program.

"Textbook and laboratory course learning, while critical, are only one part of what doing real science is about," David said. "For a science like chemistry, it is important that students get hands-on experience applying the scientific method to new problems. Summer research programs allow students to work together with faculty on real experimental science.

"Student/faculty summer research experiences are important for faculty as well as students. Financial support for these research activities refreshes, stimulates and improves faculty performance which will positively affect recruitment and retention."

Professor Emeritus of Chemistry Paul Ogren agrees. Last summer, David and Jeanne's gifts supported his research project with his students: "Quantitative thin layer chromatography (TLC) analysis of Vitamin E components in natural sources."

"The Matthews' generosity has been a very important source of endowment support in providing extensive opportunities for Earlham science undergraduates to engage in research projects over significant time periods," Paul said. "Science is fundamentally an ongoing self-testing, an experimentally-based investigation of the physical world. It is therefore particularly important that students majoring in the sciences have opportunities to intertwine research investigations with classroom and course laboratory study."

Just as David discovered his love for chemistry at Earlham, he hopes that scientific fundamentals will help other students realize the same attraction.