Chemistry professor Sally Chapman, who taught general chemistry at Barnard for 36 years, died Saturday morning after a ten-month battle with kidney cancer. She was 65.

Chapman was remembered by her students and colleagues as a mentor and role model, and for encouraging women to pursue careers in fields dominated by men. Britney Wilson, BC 12, presented Chapman with the Barnard Medal of Distinctionthe colleges highest honorat commencement last month, citing Chapmans extraordinary commitment to the advancement of women, the education of chemists, and the liberal art of science.

In decades of unparalleled service to the college, you have been a mentor to countless Barnard students, and an inspiration to even more, Wilson said. Chapmans sister Diana Chapman Walsh, a former president of Wellesley College, accepted the medal on Chapmans behalf.

Chapman was a founding member of the Committee on the Advancement of Women Chemists, and prior to being diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma in July, she had planned to retire from teaching in the near future to spend more time doing advocacy work. She was on sabbatical last semester.

Though she lectured to classrooms of more than a hundred students, Chapman valued one-on-one time with her students and offered extensive office hours. Linda Suen, BC 10, GSAS, and a former student of Chapmans, said that she often sought Chapmans help in classes taught by other professors.

The biggest impression she left on me was how caring she was. And as a professor, her door was always open, regardless of what we were needing her assistance for or what we had to talk to her for, Suen said. She didnt restrict her office hours to only her classes, and it was very apparent that she loved teaching and she valued her students.

Chapmans success as a female chemist inspired Suen to pursue a doctoral degree in chemistry at Columbias Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Although I am terribly sad that we just lost her, I think that I am privileged to have known her, Suen said. And I am sure that I will follow her example in progressing in my own career in chemistry.

Marina Orman, BC 11, said that while Chapman was a strict, no-nonsense professor with a commanding presence, outside of the classroom she was warm and kind-hearted.

Chapman hosted dinners at her home each year for Barnard seniors majoring in chemistry and other students she taught in lab classes. Orman said that Chapmans homemade chocolate mousse was legendary among her dinner guests.

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Chemistry professor remembered as mentor, role model