Get to Know HFC: Chuck Irish, chemistry instructor, botanist, avid bicyclist
Whatever the season, HFC chemistry instructor Chuck Irish is known as “the guy who rides his bike to school.”
“There’s a bike rack near the College rain garden by the Athletic Memorial Building (Building H),” said Irish. “There’s where I park. Most people can tell if I’m on campus by seeing if my bike is there or not. I don’t live far from here; it’s about four miles, so I take the scenic route. I’ve seen some pretty amazing things on my rides. The views are great. I even ride my bike in the winter.”
Chemistry is a central science in understanding the world
The eldest of three, Irish was born in Rochester, NY. His family moved to Dearborn when he was young. He lives in Dearborn with Galia, his wife of 23 years. They have two adult children, ages 22 and 20.
Irish is an alumnus of Dearborn High School. After graduation, he enrolled in HFC (then Henry Ford Community College), which he attended on an honors scholarship and completed coursework in chemistry and mathematics. He was a member of what is now the Henry Ford II Honors Program.
“My family looked at the cost of college. HFC was the only option,” recalled Irish. “Being in the Honors Program made it a better deal. The Honors Program today is much different from the Honors Program when I as a student. It was a great experience, attending HFC and being in the Honors Program.”
Transferring to Saginaw Valley State University, Irish earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry and his teaching certificate. He later earned both a second bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in chemical engineering from Wayne State University.
“Chemistry felt like studying something real,” he said. “It is a central science in understanding the world around us.”
Serving in the Peace Corps for 2 years near Mount Cameroon
For two years, Irish served in the Peace Corps and taught chemistry. He was posted in Mamfe, a town in the lowland rainforest on the banks of the Cross River in the Republic of Cameroon. During the rainy season when school was out, Irish lived in the village of Mapanja, near Mount Cameroon, an active volcano and the tallest mountain in West Africa.
“I joined the Peace Corps because I wanted to see the world. I was very fortunate where I was posted. I was posted in a town that was on a road that was on a river. On the other side of river, there were no roads. I hiked on the other side of the river. It was so different. You can see how the presence of roads effects people’s lives, their standards of living. I was 100 miles from the nearest paved roadway. And there is a difference in people’s standards of living between a dirt road and a paved road.”
During his time in the Peace Corps, Irish worked with what is now the British Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and collected plants for an ethno-botanical survey.
Botanists from the FCDO then collected the plants that were important to the villages. They also collected the notes Irish took, connecting and translating the Latin names of the various plants from the Bakweri (one of more than 250 indigenous languages spoken in Cameroon) names of the various plants.
“I’ve always had an interest in native plants,” said Irish. “One side of Mount Cameroon is the second rainiest place on Earth. On the other side, there is so little rain. There is an incredibly rich diversity of plants all over the mountain. There was just a lot of cool stuff as far as I could see.”
A great work environment at HFC
After his time in the Peace Corps, Irish taught high school chemistry for eight years, including stints at schools in Montana and Downriver in Michigan. Realizing he wanted to change professions and go into engineering, he enrolled at Wayne State.
“There was plenty of overlap between a chemistry degree and a chemical engineering degree,” he said. “It wasn’t so hard to get another bachelor’s, and then I got the master’s as well.”
Irish worked in industry for two years. He was a stay-at-home dad for several years when his brother informed him about a job fair at HFC. Deciding he wanted to return to the classroom to teach chemistry and engineering, he wrote up a résumé that afternoon and put on his best suit. Irish met then-Department of Science chair Dr. Charles Jacobs, now retired.
“Charlie said to me, ‘A person with your experience, we could use you in the chemistry department,’” recalled. “I started out as an adjunct before becoming full-time.”
Irish joined HFC in 2009. For the Fall 2023 semester, he will serve as the coordinator of Chemical Skills for Pre-Professional Programs. He will also teach Principles of General and Inorganic Chemistry.
“I enjoy teaching at the College,” he said. “I’ve really liked the people I work with. The chemistry department and the science department as a whole, we’re a really good team. It’s a great work environment.”
Ridding the rain garden of invasive species
During his time at the College, he has served on the Assessment Committee and the Student Success Committee. He has been a volunteer at the University of Michigan-Dearborn Environmental Interpretive Center for more than 10 years, weeding out invasive plant species.
Irish has applied his knowledge from the Peace Corps and the UM-Dearborn EIC to the rain garden at the College this summer, working alongside HFC Lab Associate Cynthia Morris.
“The rain garden was neglected during the pandemic, which is understandable,” he said. “Unfortunately, three invasive leaves – Canada Thistle, Crown Vetch, and Phragmites (also called Common Reed) – have taken over. All of them are bad news. Cynthia and I have been working to get rid of those invasive weeds, so the native ones can flourish and we can plant more natives in their place.”
Implementing new instructional methods from the pandemic into his teaching style
“Chuck Irish has been an excellent member of our chemistry faculty. His contributions in transforming the pre-professional chemistry course, assessment, union service, and volunteering in the rain garden are just a few highlights of his contributions to the College. He is able to connect with our students and explain concepts so all learners can succeed,” said Janice Gilliland, dean of the HFC School of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.
For Irish, the best part of his job is problem-solving, whether it’s in the classroom or in the rain garden.
“I enjoy the problem-solving aspect of teaching and the interaction with people,” he said. “I like identifying where students are struggling and changing the way things are done, so they become more successful.”
His problem-solving skills were put to the test during the pandemic.
“You want to talk about problem-solving – wow,” recalled Irish. “Before the pandemic, I was a pure blackboard-and-chalk type of teacher, who would get up and lecture. I was old school. I had never made a YouTube video before the pandemic. That was a steep learning curve. I’ve incorporated a lot of things I’ve learned from the pandemic into the way I teach now. It’s unrecognizable from before the pandemic and really continuing to evolve. Videos are a resource for students who’ve missed the lecture. It’s also a way of showing things you can’t show during a lecture. Chemistry is about the real world, and you have to show the real world when you teach.”