Support for the sciences was enormous. It was a different time. My first 13 proposals were funded. I had 12 graduate students by the time I had been here four years. I was a full professor in nine years, and I never really had to worry about tenure.
Teaching is the much more human side of academia.
His decision to give up chemical research also was motivated by changing funding patterns. Although known as the father of ambidentate ligand chemistry, when research in that area was difficult to fund, Burmeister needed to shift the focus of his career. In 1974, he was appointed the department's first and only associate chair. Because he had always been interested in applying new teaching methods to his classroom, a shift to pedagogical research seemed natural. Some of the innovative techniques he has used successfully in the past have been self-paced education options and videotapes of lectures that students can use for review.