Provost’s Lecture Series

The Chemistry Behind Effective Mentorship and Learning: A Student‑Centered Perspective 

A successful career, regardless of the field, depends on strong mentorship, collaboration and effective learning skills. As an educator, Dr. Muisener sees her role as a facilitator and coach, someone who supports and guides students in learning the content while providing tools and resources that help them grow both academically and personally.

In this talk, she shares evidence‑based teaching strategies she uses in her chemistry courses, along with practical methods that can significantly enhance how students learn and study. She also reflects on lessons from her own career journey, including what makes an effective mentor and mentee, how to build meaningful collaborative relationships and why teamwork can be one of your greatest professional assets.

Patricia Anne Muisener
Teaching Professor; Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Charles V. Schaefer School of Engineering and Science; Distinguished Teacher-Mentor Award, 2025

Dr. Patricia Muisener is a Teaching Professor and the Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology. She has been teaching chemistry at Stevens for more than ten years. She has a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; and a master’s and a Ph.D in chemical engineering from the University of Connecticut, where she specialized in polymers/materials science. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of South Florida in the Department of Chemistry and then joined the faculty to teach chemistry. She has had the privilege of working with a diverse array of students while collaborating with numerous members of the faculty and staff. She has taught, revised and developed eight undergraduate and graduate courses at Stevens, including General Chemistry I and II, Thermodynamics, Professional Ethics in Scientific Research and Research Proposals in Undergraduate Research. She focuses on analyzing how students learn and on developing creative, evidence-based strategies to enhance the learning process.

Dr. Muisener has participated in various educational initiatives, including a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded Stevens Foundations Grant that led to reforming General Chemistry I and II. She served as co-principal investigator and co-director of an NSF Interdisciplinary Research Experience for Undergraduates/Research Experience for Teachers (REU/RET) in Sustainable Energy and Bioengineering (2021-2023) and as chair of the Stevens Health Professions Advisory Committee. She also is co-PI on the current NSF grant, “Early Career Exploration Community for Biology and Chemistry Students.”

Dr. Muisener’ s honors include the 2021 Alexander Crombie Humphreys Distinguished Teaching Associate Professor Award, the 2024-2025 Stevens Employee Excellence Award for Student Success Champion and the 2026 Schaefer School Education, Innovation & Impact Award (for undergraduate teaching).