Bansi Kalra
Professor of Chemistry
Professor of Chemistry Bansi Kalra’s academic life began in his native country, India. It was there that he earned an undergraduate honors degree in chemistry from Panjab University, which he completed in three years. He also holds a master’s degree in chemistry from Panjab.
Before joining the faculty at Hollins in 1980, Bansi made stops in Canada, New York, and Iowa. In Canada, he earned a Ph.D. degree in physical chemistry from the University of Saskatchewan, and he completed a one-year post-doc at Queen’s University in Ontario. In New York, he was a post-doctoral fellow at Colgate University, and in Iowa, he taught at Wartburg College and at the University of Northern Iowa. These stops helped prepare him well for the long and successful 42-year career he would have at Hollins.
Two factors contributed to Bansi’s success as a teacher: his love of chemistry and his love for his students. His love of chemistry was evident in the way he taught. Bansi firmly believed in hands-on learning, a form of education he employed in all his courses. By having students carry out carefully selected demonstrations in class, they would learn by doing. These demonstrations were always instructive and often hugely entertaining.
His love for his students was apparent in the way he treated them. Bansi was known for working late into the night, so it was not unusual to find him in his office after hours. His students have spoken fondly of the times he would offer to make coffee or tea for them while they also worked late into the night completing homework assignments or studying for tests.
His love was also evident by the way he spoke about them. Once, when asked what course he enjoyed teaching the most, without hesitation, he answered Chemistry 101. He explained that in his experience many of the students who take this course are fearful of the subject. He said he loves “pulling them through,” because, as he remarked, “pulling them through means something.”
As a research scientist, Bansi studied reaction pathways. Using sophisticated methods of synthesis and analysis, he and his collaborators worked out detailed mechanisms associated with the chemical changes that certain small, cyclic hydrocarbon molecules undergo at high temperatures.
On more than one occasion, the studies they conducted were supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, and at various times their findings were published in prestigious journals, such as the International Journal of Chemical Kinetics, the Journal of the American Chemical Society, and the Journal of Physical Chemistry.
Bansi takes great pride in his accomplishments as a researcher, but he is even prouder of the fact that he was able to involve students in his work. His students presented their findings at regional, national, and international conferences, and two of them were coauthors on papers he published in peer-reviewed journals.
Because of Bansi’s accomplishments as a teacher and researcher, he twice held the prestigious Paula Pimlott Brownlee Professorship, a distinction only one other faculty member at Hollins has earned.
The faculty, particularly those closest to him, will sorely miss his wit, his intellect, his mentorship, and his all-around kind, gentle, and upbeat presence.