Pauling chair helps students bridge academic, working worlds
When Dr. Philip Harding was named the new holder of the Linus Pauling Chair in the School of Chemical, Biological, and Environmental Engineering this summer, one of the first things he did was update to a new cell phone.
“I’m really looking forward to learning what it’s like to be a senior engineering student today,” he said. “I never wanted to carry my cell before, much less be expected to answer it. I very deliberately decided to change that.” By immersing himself in his students’ world, Harding hopes to help connect them with the industries so in need of skilled graduates. He is pictured with chemical engineering major Staci Van Norman, a junior from Glendale, Ore.
The Linus Pauling Chair in Chemical Engineering was created by OSU alumnus Peter Johnson, ’55, to bring in industry professionals who could help engineering students develop the full range of skills they need to succeed in the working world. Even students that excel in the technical aspects of engineering can struggle when it comes to “soft skills”: communication, organization, project management, and leadership.
"I hope that this program will help students graduate with enhanced soft skills as well as greater appreciation for what they can do with their undergraduate training,” Harding noted. “This is great background for graduate school, law school, starting your own business. Chemical engineers make great doctors. If my professors were saying that when I was a senior, I wasn’t hearing it. These students are going to hear it.”
Over his career Harding has developed connections within the oil and paper industries in addition to his experiences with Hewlett-Packard, where he worked for the last 10 years. By joining the College of Engineering staff this year as holder of the Linus Pauling Chair, Harding continues a family tradition of teaching at OSU; his parents, Vera and Philip, Sr., were both teachers and began their professional careers at Oregon State University in the language and architecture departments, respectively.
“As an OSU grad and a Corvallis native, coming back to campus is a real homecoming for me,” Harding said. “I feel very privileged to have this role and am grateful to the Johnsons for enabling it.”
Read more about the Linus Pauling Chair in Chemical Engineering
