Lisa Hwang | Alumni Spotlight
Lisa Hwang
Adjunct Professor, Chemical Engineering
MS, PhD ‘06
Academic advisor: Professor Curtis Frank
What have you been up to since your time at Stanford?
During the final year of my PhD, I searched extensively for a chemical engineering teaching position, i.e. my dream job. Unfortunately, such roles were rare across chemical engineering departments (including Stanford’s) at that time. However, the department needed additional teaching support due to a confluence of faculty constraints, so I pitched the idea of a full-time teaching position to my faculty advisor, Curt Frank. That was the start of an incredibly fulfilling career at Stanford.
Some highlights from this journey include developing a two-quarter laboratory sequence focused on quantitative critical thinking, just in time for COVID to force a pivot to a fully remote version of that sequence, and most recently, working on our recent curriculum overhaul. Along the way, I also had the pleasure of serving as a consultant with the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL). I am now an adjunct professor in the department, where I primarily work on curriculum-related initiatives including assessment of our 100-unit major.
What’s your fondest memory from your time at Stanford?
I have many fond memories from my time at Stanford, which now spans 25 years. One that stands out dates back to my graduate school days during my final year. I had tried and failed so many times to get the one piece of experimental data that would round out my research story. One Friday evening when the lab was almost deserted, the magical moment arrived when I finally captured the data. I ran into the hallway of Stauffer III and skipped up and down the hallway with joy. A labmate working nearby on the QCM saw my crazy celebration and was just as excited as I was, knowing how much effort had gone into that moment. It was wonderful to share my jubilation with a fellow lab member who appreciated the highs and lows of research. I still look back fondly on my time with labmates, whether it was commiserating over failed experiments, talking through data or celebrating those break-through moments!
What advice would you like to share with our current students and postdocs?
Stanford is a very special place, buzzing with intellectual and creative energy and supported by incredible resources. My advice is to use your time in this environment to pursue your bold ideas whether big or small. Have you ever thought, “Wouldn’t it be amazing if …” or “My dream would be to…”? For example, when I was a PhD student, I knew I wanted to teach afterwards. At that time, the university did not administer end-quarter TA evaluations, but I recognized how valuable that feedback would be for a future teaching-focused career. I pitched the idea of running our own departmental TA evaluations to the faculty and worked with several folks to implement a system by the following year.
This is just one of many projects I’ve been able to develop during my time at Stanford. As long as you’re willing to put in the work, I have found Stanford and our department to be a wonderful place to launch new ideas. Implementing TA evaluations required collaboration with a wide range of campus partners including the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL), IT Services and local experts in teaching effectiveness. Ten years later, I was able to draw on what I learned from that early “pet project” when I joined a team working to improve how we evaluate effective teaching for faculty and teaching staff in the School of Engineering. Anything important that I’ve accomplished at Stanford has been the result of collaboration with dedicated people and outstanding resources. So while you’re here, go for it!
