Christy L. Haynes
Department Head and Distinguished McKnight University Professor of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, USA
A mentor or educator who inspired you?I had a graduate student mentee that really inspired me – acknowledging me in her thesis “You truly believed I deserved to be here and worked tirelessly to nominate me for awards, accolades, and supported my dreams outside of science. You said my name in rooms where it mattered.” I think about this regularly, and it reminds me how important it is to keep mentees in the conversation.
Qualities of a successful mentor or educator? Having the mindset that a mentorship is a partnership. It is just as important for you to listen to the input, ideas, and questions of the mentee as it is to deliver information to them. This allows recognition for the often underappreciated wisdom of more junior scientists.
Attracting talent… Broadening the definition of analytical chemistry and welcoming people working at all interfacial boundaries. We should also be conscientious of developing an analytical chemistry community that recognises traditional and non-traditional scientific input. Adding more diversity allows the opportunity for new solutions to important issues that are currently getting too little attention.
