Biographical note

Steven S. Zumdahl earned a B.S. in Chemistry from Wheaton College (IL) and a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He has been a faculty member at the University of Colorado-Boulder, Parkland College (IL), and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) where he is Professor Emeritus. He has received numerous awards including the National Catalyst Award for Excellence in Chemical Education, the University of Illinois Teaching Award, the UIUC Liberal Arts and Sciences Award for Excellence in Teaching, UIUC Liberal Arts and Sciences Advising Award, and the School of Chemical Sciences Teaching award (five times). He is the author of several chemistry textbooks. In his leisure time he enjoys traveling and collecting classic cars. Donald J. DeCoste is Associate Director of General Chemistry at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and has been teaching chemistry at the high school and college levels for 20 years. He earned his B.S. in Chemistry and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. At UIUC he has developed chemistry courses for nonscience majors, pre-service secondary teachers, and pre-service elementary teachers. He teaches courses in introductory chemistry and the teaching of chemistry and has received the School of Chemical Sciences Teaching Award four times. Don has led workshops for secondary teachers and graduate student teaching assistants, discussing the methods and benefits of getting students more actively involved in class. When not involved in teaching and advising, Don enjoys spending time with his wife and three children.