December 21, 2022

A few months ago, the news was filled with the narrative of Prof. Maitland Jones’s termination from NYU because his course was “too hard.” Bad as Jones’s experience was, what happened to Professor Paris Svoronos is even worse.

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Jones is a renowned organic chemist teaching part-time at NYU after a distinguished four-decade career at Princeton. I can tell you why he “kept his hand in” at NYU: he simply loved imparting knowledge to young future scientists (and allied professionals) sans the burden of writing grants and unrelenting committee work that can crush an academic. But organic chemistry can be tough, and a few snowflakes blubbered over their grades. Jones had to go.

The media have described organic as the weed-out course for those hoping for medical school; I’m not sure I agree (wait till you get to P-chem, dear children!). Regardless, it is a demanding subject that requires significant work. It’s easier, though, to complain, especially if you know the administration will bow before you.

Now, let me tell you a name that you probably have not heard: Professor Paris Svoronos. Svoronos hailed from Greece, arriving in Washington D.C. in 1973 on a fellowship for a Ph.D. program, with the allowed 13 bucks in his pocket and an additional 26 hidden in his shoe.

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His fellow grad students thought he was odd for he jumped from his seat, standing at attention when a professor entered the room! He slowly became accustomed to the more relaxed tenor stateside, to the extent that his nickname became “funny guy.” I entered the same program three years later and, during our time there, he taught me a great deal, both of us emerging with a Ph.D., his in organic and mine in physical chemistry (P-chem).

Image: Queensborough Community College Building (cropped) by Jim.henderson. Public domain.

Though offered positions in research-1 universities, Svoronos made his career at Queensborough Community College (QCC), part of the City University of New York (CUNY). His ambition was to lift immigrants (such as he was) who were at rock bottom, the type whom no other school would even look at, and transform their lives. And what a job he did! Countless young people who benefitted from his tutelage have gone from dirt-poor to achieving M.D.s, Ph.D.s, and other professional/academic degrees (from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, etc.), and to hold prestigious positions. I have seen his collection of thank-you letters and testimonials; I envy the joy his students attribute directly and solely to him.

How did Svoronos accomplish this? He applied his own unique version of tough-love, ass-kicking, take-no-prisoners teaching. Is he rough on students? Absolutely! Does he tolerate mediocre efforts or laziness? Not hardly! He demands that students arrive to class on time and be engaged. He expects performance and success from his students, all the while giving them the tools to achieve that success.

Svoronos is more in the mold of a European university don than the typical, unexceptional Ed.D.s found in university administrations. He shouts and dances about the classroom; initially scary, but ultimately revered and loved by those who come to realize what has just been done for them.

Most of these students did research along with their studies, a concept unheard of in community colleges until Svoronos introduced it in 2000. Many who fail with him the first time have come back to his courses only to succeed and go on to live life on their own terms, no longer dependent on the largesse of government, but as mentors and leaders in their own right. Svoronos served these students faithfully for 40 years before being forced into retirement by, you guessed right: a blubbering snowflake.

Not surprisingly, over the years, a number of students have gotten an ass-chewing from Svoronos. In 2010 and 2016, students faked research results on a two-million-dollar grant that Svoronos won for QCC (the first ever for a community college). This dishonesty almost resulted in QCC’s disbarment from future research grants.