When Professor Ephraim Woods published a paper in ACS Earth and Space Chemistry <\/em>in summer 2020, he posted on Twitter an expression of his gratitude to his seven undergraduate co-authors. \u201cWhen I started at Colgate in 2002, I often heard, sometimes from grant reviewers, that you can\u2019t do experiments like this with undergraduate researchers,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThankfully, I don\u2019t hear that much anymore.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Woods was a brilliant scientist who conducted groundbreaking research in aerosol chemistry, but his most valued professional accomplishment was teaching and mentoring his students. He devoted his time to them by not just teaching chemistry but also getting to know them, providing guidance and support, and sharing life lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cProfessor Woods was very kind and patient and helped me cultivate my interest in research,\u201d says Pomaa Ofosuhene \u201918, who was one of the co-authors he thanked on Twitter. \u201cHe was truly a great mentor and kept in touch even after I left Colgate. My experience working with him taught me a lot, and it has been essential to my current work.\u201d She is now earning her PhD in chemistry and credits that with working in his lab during the summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mark Hilton \u201917, another co-author on the 2020 ACS <\/em>paper, remembers how, as a senior, he was the only student to enroll in Woods\u2019 thermodynamics and statistical mechanics elective. Typically, an inadequate number of enrolled students would mean the class is no longer offered, but Woods turned it into an independent study elective so Hilton could participate. \u201cProfessor Woods was a wonderful, passionate, and selfless educator and person. He encouraged learning and exploration, after which I like to model my own teaching style,\u201d says Hilton, who now works at Vanderbilt University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Born in Ashland, Ky., Woods earned a bachelor\u2019s degree with a double major in chemistry and math from Transylvania University, obtained a PhD in physical chemistry from the University of Wisconsin\u2013 Madison, and completed postdoctoral research at the University of North Carolina\u2013Chapel Hill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His research focused on reactions in Earth\u2019s atmosphere that contribute to climate change. Specifically, he studied aerosols, which can carry pollutant molecules that are chemically transformed by sunlight in ways that affect the aerosols\u2019 cloud formation and light-scattering ability, causing changes to the climate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Published more than 20 times in prestigious journals, he had recently been notified by the Journal of Physical Chemistry <\/em>that a 2019 paper of his was among the articles most cited by other researchers. His research was also consistently funded through grants, most commonly by the National Science Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A huge Colgate Raiders fan, Woods had been the faculty liaison for the men\u2019s basketball team since 2011. He was a lifelong Kentucky Wildcats basketball fan, but \u201chis Colgate Raiders were near and dear to his heart, and they were truly his team,\u201d his family wrote in Woods\u2019 obituary. He himself was athletic and enjoyed playing basketball. In addition, he was a talented guitarist and had recently enjoyed a reunion with his college band, Cold Fusion. A guitar had a place in his office, and he played his other guitars at home every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He also was a longtime member of the First Baptist Church in Hamilton, where he served on the Board of Trustees, as moderator, and as the technology support person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Woods is survived by his wife, Kerri, who was his high school sweetheart; their two children; his mother; his mother-in- law; his brother-in-law; and two nephews. He was predeceased by his father and his father-in-law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Woods was a brilliant scientist who conducted groundbreaking research in aerosol chemistry, but his most valued professional accomplishment was teaching and mentoring his students.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1272,"featured_media":11754,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,1455,1456],"tags":[1454,272,228,331,1092,106,1452],"coauthors":[135],"class_list":["post-11707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-alumni-updates","category-faculty-staff-updates","category-faculty-tribute","tag-aerosol-chemistry","tag-chemistry","tag-climate-change","tag-mens-basketball","tag-professor","tag-science","tag-scientist"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/palXSH-32P","amp_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2023\/05\/Colgate-Professor-Ephraim-Woods-III.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1272"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11707"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11707\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13795,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11707\/revisions\/13795"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11707"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}