Seminar Date: Friday, October 23, 2026, 12:00-1:00 pm (EDT)
Seminar Title: Balancing Research and Teaching in Chemistry [2026 Award Lecture: CIC Award for Chemistry Education]
Dr. Arthur Mar received his B.Sc. from the University of British Columbia and his Ph.D. from Northwestern University, and was an NSERC postdoctoral fellow at the Institut des Matériaux de Nantes. He joined the University of Alberta in 1994 where he is recognized for his impactful research in inorganic materials chemistry and for his excellence in teaching introductory chemistry, inorganic chemistry, solid state chemistry, and X-ray crystallography. He has earned numerous teaching awards, including the Rutherford Award, the highest given at the University of Alberta. Among his most significant teaching contributions, he has shown longstanding leadership as the first-year chemistry coordinator to modernize the curriculum, to implement innovative teaching approaches involving active and blended learning components, and to mentor many excellent new instructors. Leveraging his own research expertise, he has developed materials chemistry courses for senior undergraduate and graduate students, and he has led outreach activities to introduce machine learning to high school students. He has established linkages with high school teachers and relationships with international colleagues to promote teaching of chemistry. His enthusiastic, engaging, and rigorous teaching has positively impacted thousands of students at the University of Alberta and in the broader community.