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Taylor Enjoys Teaching Chemistry

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Photo by Wesley Briant

Jeff Taylor

   M. Jeff Taylor came to the University of Arkansas at Monticello this year as a chemistry professor. Taylor lived in a lot of places growing up but considers Mountain View, Ark., his hometown. Taylor, born in a low-income family, used poverty as a motivational force in his education.

   Taylor attended the University of Arkansas of Little Rock for undergraduate school before moving to Austin, Texas, to attend the University of Texas for his master's degree. He earned his doctorate's degree at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, where he worked alongside fellow UAM professor Morris Bramlett, and worked on his post doctorate at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. During his graduate studies, Taylor worked on structure determination using x-ray crystallography and multi-dimension nuclear magnetic resonance. He also researched with ion channels including gramicidins.

   After completing his graduate studies, Taylor taught at Lyon College for a year. He moved to Louisiana where he taught at the University of Louisiana Monroe for 11 years before he returned to Arkansas to teach at UAM. He chose UAM because he wanted to teach at a state school with students that came from a similar background as his. UAM being the most affordable four-year college in Arkansas made it a perfect fit.

   Taylor's classes this semester include general chemistry, biochemistry, biochemistry lab and introduction to organic and biochemistry where he gains a great deal of satisfaction helping students achieve their education. He plans on making biochemistry an annual course at UAM rather than a bi-annual course.

   He said that to pass one of his courses students "have to eat an elephant." He explained that chemistry has a lot of information to digest just like an elephant. If students try to eat the elephant in one night, they will choke. If they eat it in small bites every night then they can take in everything.

   So far he has enjoyed his stay at Monticello and finds the staff exceptionally kind and helpful. Taylor’s students have enjoyed his lectures and his style of teaching. Outside of chemistry, Taylor loves anything to do with automobiles. He says if it has a motor, he is there.