Dedicated
By: Olivia Buenafe (IV BS/MS Chemistry)

Roberto Gregorius, Ph.D, is one admirable person. He is an associate professor of Chemistry, and has been for 6 years now, at the University of Texas - Pan American (UTPA) in Edinburg, Texas, and specializes in Polymer Chemistry.

He has been based abroad since 1985. His Ph.D (1991) comes from the Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts. He has worked in Max-Planck-Insitut für Polymerforschung, Mainz, Germany (1991-1993), as the head of a research group investigating new electrically conductive polymers, and in AlliedSignal Corporate Research Center, Morristown, NJ and at the Department of Ceramics Engineering, Rutgers University (1993-1995), as he worked on polymer and ceramics for sonar applications.

A dedicated teacher, Dr. Gregorius also creates new approaches in lab manuals and textbooks using electronic media, including Macromedia Flash. For him, a typical class day means spending time with his students, and with his laptop working on interactive Flash teaching tools.
As a researcher, his pet projects include the production of novel electrically conducting polymers based on polyarylene vinylenes and polymers containing tetrathiafulvalene. He works with undergraduate students with this type of work; the latest results are found in the Journal of Undergraduate Chemistry Research, vol.2, no. 1, page 5, 2003.

On the personal side, he is still single, not just because he is a very busy person, busy in the sense that he does not make any distinctions between what he does and who he is—he is known to work until 3:00am or party until 3:00am. He quips, “I don't think it would be fair to inflict myself on another human being.” On the side, he enjoys playing Ultimate Frisbee and computer games, claiming that “one does have to have a vice, can't be too perfect.”
He has been always a science/knowledge oriented guy. And, more importantly, he is an Ateneo alumnus—he earned his BS degree in Chemistry in 1983. He considers Father W. Schmitt, the founder of the Chemistry Department in the university, as the most influential person in his life, as he had been his senior thesis mentor; he even copies some of his teaching techniques until now. Aside from Chemistry (and other science-related courses), Philosophy of Man I and II rate as truly memorable. He joined the home organization of chemistry majors, the Ateneo Chemical Society (ACheS).

He has some important advice for chemistry majors in the Philippines in terms of scientific research and teaching—first asking oneself whether he or she prefers to work 9-5, having their weekends and evenings to themselves (type A) or to live their jobs (type B); if one decides that he/she belongs to the former, then “stick to the BS degree, work in industry [and] enjoy the rest of your life”; otherwise, “get a PhD in the field you are most interested in, [because] only in this way will you be given the opportunity to control your work. The objective is to be who you are - without judgement on the value of that choice. Ultimately, you'll be good, just because you're enjoying yourself.”

As an Atenean, he muses on what it really means to be “men and women for others.” He says that the school’s core of 16 credits of Philosophy, 21 credits of Theology, 21 credits of English and Lit, etc. is sure to provide a serious student with the broadest perspective possible in 4 years. He noted that “too many students, especially in the US, are concerned about career paths, concerned about academics, and not mature enough to realize that they are in college to get an education; Ateneo takes the stance that students of 17 - 21 are not likely wise enough to know what's good for them - and so "forces" them to take all these courses. For a chem major (with all the science credits to be taken), this can be tough. But it will make you a better person in the end.”

Finally, in his opinion, an Atenean “can match with anybody in the world!” According to him, his GPA at the Ateneo was 3.33, but when he took the GRE, he was in the 94-percentile for Verbal, and 96-percentile for Analysis, but he belonged to 75-percentile for Math (“I never did like Math,” he confides) and and 85-percentile in Chem, but that would still put him in the top 25% of all the people who took the GRE that year.

He believes that one “may forget the specific information that your teachers gave you (heaven knows I can’t do calculus to save my life), but the training, the way of thinking, the way to approach life, the way of being human - those never go away.”

 

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