Chemistry students at Hillsdale College know that if they need a handful of Runts to give them a sugar boost for their day along with extra clarification on advanced inorganic homework, there’s only one professor to go to: Dr. V, as he is so fondly referred to by his students.
Christopher Van Orman, dean of natural sciences and mathematics, is in his 21st year at Hillsdale College. The chemistry professor is loved by his students for his passion for the subject and his kindness towards students.
“Dr. V is very personable. He takes the time to get to know all of his students. In fact, he actually goes through the class roster like flash cards to make sure he knows everyone’s name in his class,” said sophomore Rachel Warner, a chemistry major. “He’s very caring and compassionate, he really does care about how you are doing in his class, and he also cares about how you’re doing outside of the classroom. He’s very fatherly.”
Van Orman, a Niles, Mich., native, attended Albion College and graduated in 1987 with a Bachelor of Arts in chemistry. He received his PhD at Case Western Reserve University in 1992 and came straight to Hillsdale after.
“When I was looking for a job after graduation, I was actually looking for more of an industrial position. One of my professors at Case told me I should think about teaching because I was good at it, so I applied for two academic positions,” he said. “When Hillsdale reached out to me, I interviewed and fell in love with it. I loved everything about the place -— the faculty, the facilities, the students. Now you’re stuck with me.”
Van Orman’s passion for chemistry began as a hobby, something he thought he would never pursue as a degree and teaching career.
“It’s probably the subject that I really loved and understood the best in high school. I had a very good high school teacher, [with] really bad hair,” he said. “Even at a younger age, at 10 and 12, I was doing science chemistry experiments with the chemistry kit my parents had bought. I didn’t think I would major in that, it was just something I really liked, but I kept taking classes and decided to major in it.”
Students are glad he did. Van Orman is known for his demonstrations during class, which Warner said enhance the lectures and include setting hydrogen balloons on fire and freezing racquetballs in liquid nitrogen.
Sophomore Darius Ware, an exercise science major, attributes Van Orman’s teaching style to an increase in his interest for chemistry.
“His teaching style keeps you interested and his in-class experiments and examples are always awesome,” Ware said. “He loves to blow things up! The bigger the ‘bang,’ the better.”
Van Orman recalls the craziest thing he has ever seen in lab as having occurred many years ago. It involved, not the “bad hair” of his high school teacher, but the hair of a former student.
“I’ve seen a girl set her hair on fire. She had on too much hairspray, and her hair caught on the Bunsen burner. That was one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen,” Van Orman said. “It smelled bad.”
Van Orman cited the opportunity to work with students one on one as the most rewarding part of his job. He said that while he loves teaching his classes, it’s the personal interaction with students that is most gratifying.
“What’s really nice about his teaching style is that he is willing to go over something again if he can tell that the class does not understand it. He really takes the time to make sure that everyone understands something before he moves on,” Warner said.
Van Orman’s “fatherly” nature follows him outside the classroom, as many of his passions outside of teaching revolve around his two children.
“I love sports, especially football. I watch lots of football; my son plays football. My daughter plays tennis, so I love watching tennis. I love to golf. I golf a lot in the summer,” he said. “I ride my Harley. … Not so much now, although I still start her up once a week.”
What has kept Van Orman at his very first job for all these years is his love for the school, especially the students, he said.
“The thing that made me stay are the students. They’re very respectful, eager to learn, and fun to teach. Within the department I have excellent colleagues; we get along very well. The science department is a tight-knit group. We are supported well by the college with our facilities and equipment and I couldn’t ask for anything more,” he said.
