On Sunday, Jan. 5, long-time chemistry professor Claudia Novack announced in a Moodle post that she “will not be returning to Brandeis for the spring semester.” Novack, who had been at Brandeis University for more than two decades, left in the middle of a year-long general chemistry course. Novack’s students described her as a “hard-ass” who “can be very condescending,” but also as a great lecturer. “Novack was a bitch, but at least she knows how to teach,” said a sophomore general chemistry student who critiqued some aspects of her teaching style but largely appreciated her dedication. Professor Novack has been teaching in the chemistry department since 2009, and has a RateMyProfessor rating of 2.9/5, with a difficulty level of 4.4/5, where students describe her as “pretty good at explaining Chemistry but she is pretty mean.” Her top tags on the website, used by students to review professors, are “Tough grader”, “Get ready to read” and “Skip class? You won’t pass”.
General Chemistry has been taken over by Dr. Christopher Arico-Menduel, a new professor at Brandeis who earned his Ph.D. from MIT before working in the pharmaceutical industry. So far, students have noted a significant difference in teaching styles, contrasting Novack’s strict approach and robust grading system with Dr. Arico-Menduel’s methods. “Novack would show us step by step how to solve problems,” said a biology major currently enrolled in general chemistry.
Novack joined Brandeis in 1987 as an adjunct instructor in the music department, where she worked until 1995. After what she described in a 2009 interview as a “midlife career switch,” she began studying science. In 1997, she was hired to teach sections of General Chemistry Lab and later became a faculty member in the chemistry department.
Novack earned her Ph.D. in Slavic linguistics from Brown University after completing a double-degree program with the New England Conservatory and Tufts University. Despite her background in the humanities, she had long dreamed of pursuing a career in science.
“I feel very valued here by both the department and the students and always have. I can’t imagine a more ideal job situation. I come to work every day, and I’m so happy to be here, I don’t even feel like I’m at work. I can’t really imagine changing what I’m doing now,” Novack said in a 2009 interview. While some students will miss her sometimes harsh but effective teaching style, others remain optimistic as they adjust to Arico-Menduel’s teaching. Despite the abrupt mid-year transition, current general chemistry students say they “have faith” in their new professor.
