Written by Namankita Rana and Jenny Quispe
When we first meet Professor Leopold, he surprises us with an unusual statement — he already has jobs, for both of us. What?
As he goes on to explain, he knew a former student who wrote for the Stute and didn’t know what field to go into. He suggested she look into scientific publishing — and shortly after, she was able to score an incredible job at John Wiley and Sons, a world class publishing firm and one of the largest of its type in the world.
This is just one of the many amazing student success stories relayed to us by Professor Leopold, who takes a very visible pride in what Stevens students have accomplished so far.
So first, a little bit about the man himself. Professor Leopold is starting his 8th year here at Stevens, and he joined the faculty back in 2008. He teaches introductory Biology, Molecular Genetics, and some grad classes. Before Stevens, he worked in the Weill Cornell Medical School for 12 years. So why did he join Stevens faculty? Professor Leopold tells us that the opportunity to work so closely with the engineering field is what primarily drew him in.
We ask him a bit more about Stevens’ chemical biology department. The Chemical Biology department, Leopold explains, takes two approaches. First, there’s a focus on learning about the system– the biological approach. Second, there’s a focus on learning how to manipulate the system — the chemical approach. To put it another way, the curriculum focuses on both teaching students what pill works (biology) as well as why the pill works at the molecular level (chemistry).
We also ask him about the new Biology department. He tells us this: while typical Biology programs have very little math and physics, Stevens biology packs in no less than three semesters of physics , four and a half years of chem, three semesters of calc, and one semester of probability and statistics. The level of rigor is there for a reason — Leopold says that “People who understand math will be the ones who create the next wave of breakthroughs in Biology”.
Indeed, mathematics seems to be a crucial part of Stevens culture. In fact, Professor Leopold goes on to make an interesting observation: according to him, the best predictor of a student’s future success at Stevens is their performance in their first semester of Calculus. Leopold explains that, because calculus requires so much abstract thought and calculations, getting through the class builds up a student’s quantitative confidence. As he put it perfectly, after taking higher level classes in calculus and differential equations, “very little will scare you after that — it takes you out of your comfort zone.”
So what kinds of problems trip up first-year students? Leopold believes that many students struggle with achieving a balance between work and play. Another big change for first year students, he says, is getting used to the realization that academically, everyone at Stevens is at the same level. Everyone here was at the top of the class– and the kids who were once the high-fliers and top achievers of their school have to understand that they may not necessarily remain that way. The key then, Leopold says, is to realize that seeing other people’s incredible talents “should not make you lose confidence in your own talents”. Leopold really emphasizes this, and he insists that “…it’s not a competition here at Stevens– it’s a collaboration”.
We next ask him for some advice on studying, and Leopold gives us a fantastic gem: as he puts it, the key is to “know what you don’t know, and study THAT.” He suggests making a comprehensive list of all the types of problems and concepts needed, and first identifying what you do know. Then, he stresses, “don’t waste time studying what you know — study what’s new.” He also stresses that students need to be alert while going over their notes, not distracted with music or the like. It’s what he calls “active studying” and for first year students still recovering from bouts of high school senioritis, this is a great piece of advice.
Finally, we ask him, what sets Stevens apart from other schools? Leopold says it’s Stevens’ school spirit, and he credits it to the recent surge in investment in Stevens’ athletic teams. He tells us how Harold Raveche, one of the university’s most influential presidents for 22 years, invested heavily in athletics, hired good coaches, and supported good recruits. Leopold credits the athletic program with helping Stevens gain national attention, and says that it helped build a “more diverse, more interesting student body”. In fact, Stevens is a two time Jostens award winner. The Jostens award is given to schools in the Northeast for achievement of both athletic and academic excellence. The only other school to have won this award multiple times is Princeton University.
The other thing sets Stevens apart is the opportunities for undergraduate involvement with research. He tells us of students who have filed patents (there’s been no less than five patents in the last five years), become the first authors of huge academic papers, and gone on to found their own companies and tech startups. Because there are not as many post-grads/post-docs to compete with, he says, undergraduate students have very little competition to getting on papers and doing serious work — something that would be much harder to accomplish at many other huge research institutions.
