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Unbeknownst to many students, professor T. Ross Kelly of the chemistry department has been featured on both the History Channel and Da Ali G Show.
Granted, Da Ali G Show may not be the most academically significant of his extensive accomplishments, but it is notable nontheless. He still receives recognition in Corcoran Commons for this instance of celebrity.
Da Ali G Show is a British comedy TV show where unsuspecting professionals are interviewed by a fake talk show host.
The show stars Sacha Baron Cohen, who interviews subjects as three characters: A british wannabe gangster, a reporter from Kazahkstan, and an eccentric male fashion expert. Cohen uses each character to lead humorous interviews, many times at the expense of the interview subject.
Kelly didn't know what he was getting himself into when a producer from the BBC called him a few years ago. Although he was contacted under seemingly legitimate auspices, he says that you "quickly figure it out."
Wednesday, Kelly was featured on the History Channel's series Modern Marvels, on an episode about engines for his work on a molecular motor. He explained the science that allows an individual molecule to be manipulated so that its atoms function as a motor.
"A lot of people find miniature motors an interesting idea," he says.
The idea first received widespread publicity in 1999, when a paper discussing his discovery was published in the science periodical Nature.
He is continuing to develop this idea, working with graduate students, post-doctorates, and even undergrads to extend his research.
Other projects that Kelly is invested in, "all of which are aimed at making things," is research working to extend the knowledge of an antibiotic to determine if it can be made useful.
His research group has accomplished the synthesis of three dozen natural products, which benefit the scientific and medical communities, according to his Boston College Web site. One of his successes has been on a particular antibiotic that is effective against strains of bacteria that have become resistant to existing antibiotics.
Kelly, a Thomas A. and Margaret A. Vanderslice Professor of Chemistry, teaches mostly undergraduate organic chemistry, and has taught at BC since 1969 after receiving his Ph.D. from UC Berkeley.
Kelly has earned several other awards during his stint at BC. He won the National Institues of Health Career Development award in 1975, and the American Chemical Society Cope Scholar award in 1996.
When you walk into his office in Merkert, among the piles of chemistry papers and a collection of gadgets, one of the major decorations is a giant corkboard that displays labeled pictures of his entire class, which helps him to learn the names of his students. The board reaches from the floor to the ceiling; Organic Chemistry is usually a large lecture course, and memorizing all the names seems like a daunting task, but Kelly has fun with it.
He enjoys working with the students at BC. It is among his favorite aspects of his job.
Though he is still heavily involved in research, Kelly says he values both components of his job, saying, "If I only did one, life would be less interesting."
He must be doing something right in the classroom - he was voted Teacher of the Year by the Phi Beta Kappa academic honors society (BC chapter) in 2004. This accomplishment was the first time that the honor was conferred on a scientist.
In the May 13, 2004 issue of The Boston College Chronicle, a student wrote Kelly's "creativity and enthusiasm opened the eyes of many students who were fearful of taking organic chemistry."
"Its nice to know some people think I'm successful," he says of the award.
Kelly has always been interested in chemistry and spreading his appreciation for the subject.
"When I was a kid, I would make model rockets and airplanes ... anything to get people interested in chemistry."
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