Darel Straub, who spent more than 30 years teaching in Pitt’s Department of Chemistry (1967-1998), died May 22, 2023 at 88.
“He exemplified what it meant to be a student-centered professor,” recalled George Bandik, who became a Pitt chemistry graduate student here in 1980, then Straub’s colleague, and is now teaching professor of chemistry and assistant dean in the Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences.
“He had an amazingly strong commitment to undergraduates and undergraduate education that is the legacy he left us,” Bandik said. “I learned an awful lot from him to be able to do what I do” as an administrator.
Straub was associate professor of inorganic chemistry and well known for his courses in general chemistry. His research involved synthetic inorganic reactions, particularly iron complexes with sulfur ligands.
But he also was known for his wide-ranging administrative work in the department, including a stint as assistant chair, during which he handled everything from book orders to teaching assistant scheduling. He was an undergraduate advisor when Bandik was in charge of advising.
Straub’s attention to student needs was recognized in several important ways during his Pitt tenure. Each year, the top academic student in each class is awarded the Phillips Medal, but on Straub’s retirement he was awarded the first and only Phillips Medal given to a non-student. The department’s undergraduate chapter of the American Chemical Society’s annual outstanding service award also was given to Straub.
Bandik remembered Straub as a “gentle, quiet person” who entertained the chemistry faculty with slide shows each year following his world travels and enjoyed accompanying colleagues to symphony concerts.
Darel Kerr Straub was born May 17, 1935, in Petroleum Center, Pa. He earned his degrees from the University of Florida–Gainesville and University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign, then began his academic career at Allegany College before joining Pitt. At the University, he mentored 11 doctoral students and wrote many published research papers as well as books.
He is survived by his brother Daniel H. Straub and wife Linda, his many nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews and all of their families.
— Marty Levine