Meet Holy Cross’ Dr. Sarah Petty, Assistant Professor of Chemistry
By Jennie Fitzgerald

Part of what makes Central MA so unique is its abundance of colleges and universities. And at each institution, there are professors, instructors, and coaches who go above and beyond simply dispensing academic fact inside the classroom; this special breed of educator becomes mentor, role model, and inspiration. It is these individuals whom we honor in Focus on Faculty.  If you know a professor who should be featured in this section, please contact the Editor at ldean@pagioinc.com.

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Holy Cross’ physical and modern chemistry professor Sarah Petty knows it takes more than positive and negative ions to create chemistry in a classroom. She applies her years of experience in research and interacts with her students to create a force field of learning and practice ~ devoting herself to the scientific world and the students who happen to be in it.

Being from England, Sarah started high school at age 11 and took 7 years of chemistry classes ~ let’s just say she knew what she was getting into before she received her PhD at the University of Liverpool. She did her post-doc at Mount Holyoke College where she realized she wanted to teach in a similar environment. She favored college level material, conducting her own research, and the small classes, and the position at Holy Cross blended all those elements together.

Sarah credits her enthusiastic high school teacher with making her fall in love with chemistry. Now, she tries to show that love to her students. Physical chemistry has the reputation for being one of the hardest classes in the major, and Sarah helps soften that “scary” rep by interacting with students as a mentor/advisor and being someone they can talk to when they need a “friendly ear.” A combination of homework and practice, late nights (students bring her dinner when she pulls overtime to help them, especially during finals), and a welcoming office atmosphere makes Sarah’s teaching style a winning one.

What makes her so dedicated? Well, she says, it’s “…the students who practice their interview for you then get the scholarship they were interviewing for; the students you talk to about how much more they are capable of, then pull their grade up to an A; the parents you meet who thank you for what you have done for their son or daughter. The students at HC are fabulous and make the job totally worthwhile.”

When she’s not teaching, you can find Sarah attending her students’ sporting events, participating in community service (like the “Holy Cross Cares Day”) or bowling with her weekly summer league. She also enjoys yoga and running and will be the faculty advisor for the Women’s Rugby Team next semester. And always, her research continues, as she studies the structure and aggregation of proteins as associated with disease ~ her late nights aren’t getting any earlier, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.