Dr. Stephanie Myers' Retirement Announcement

Dr. Stephanie “SAM” Myers, Professor of Chemistry and the Assistant Chair of the Department of Chemistry & Physics, is retiring after 28 years of service from Augusta University. Her official last day will be July 31, 2021.

 

Myers has seen a lot of changes in the institution since her start date in 1993. At the time, the institution was known as Augusta College. Not only did the institution grow in size, it also went through many name changes and a University System-mandated consolidation—and became the Augusta University of today. She witnessed the construction of Science Hall on the Summerville Campus, completed in 2000, and now the Science & Mathematics Building on the Health Sciences campus, completed in 2021. During the time, she was also involved with creating more programs and concentrations for the chemistry discipline.

 

One of Myers’ notable achievements was being the catalyst who shaped and facilitated the Forensic Science concentration. Furthermore, she had a pivotal role in the proposal and implementation of an interdisciplinary graduate program in Biomolecular Science, which admitted its inaugural cohort of students in the fall of 2020. Myers served as Program Director of the Medicinal Chemistry concentration in this graduate program.

 

As a professor, Myers has taught over ten different courses and different associated labs in her career. Some students love her classes so much that they have taken as many as seven of her courses. In addition to teaching, she further interacts with students in her role as an academic advisor, where she specializes in advising premedical students. For Myers, seeing her students’ success is the most rewarding part of her career.

 

 “Student achievements are my achievements, and I have sent them on to be successful in medical school, dental school, pharmacy school, graduate school, and cool jobs, including at least three forensic chemists,” she said. “One even went to law school. I am flattered that so many of the students who went to graduate school chose to specialize in Analytical Chemistry.”

 

In addition to her academic service, Myers is also fondly regarded by her students and fellow faculty and staff for her kindness and attentiveness. For the inaugural cohort of the Biomolecular Science program, she brought homemade cookies and gave each of her students a crocheted item that she made. In addition, she often brought cookies for students’ birthdays or donated her crochet for raffles at outreach events.

 

To commemorate her twenty-eight years of service, Dr. Joseph “Andy” Hauger, Professor of Physics, hosted a retirement celebration for Myers at his home on June 19, 2020. He was instrumental in organizing the event.

 

“We definitely want to honor SAM and say thank you for what you’ve done for so many years as a colleague and a teammate. We all learned a lot from you,” Hauger said in tribute to her that night.

 

Dr. Thomas Crute, the Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Physics, presented Myers with a plaque in commemoration of her many contributions to students and colleagues. Crute was a member of the search committee in 1993 for her position and was the one who picked her up at the airport for her interview on her first visit to Augusta.

 

“She has been a fantastic colleague,” he said. Crute praised her drive to understand the mission of the department, the personnel that are involved, and the designing of the curriculum. “She has so many ideas for big things, like the forensic chemistry concentration, and the little things, like advising pre-med students. Nearly half of our majors sign up on her door for every single advisement slot that is available.”

 

Crute reiterated that the impact that Myers brought to the department was tremendous and believed that everyone could attest to that. He is thankful to have known Myers and worked with her on so many projects, including the co-authoring of research articles. 

 

Myers returned the same sentiment, and she said that the most important part of the job is the people she works with, and that has been the best part of the job for her at Augusta University.

 

“I will miss my colleagues and my students but hope they will stay in touch,” she said.

 

After retiring from Augusta University, Myers will move closer to her family to reconnect and spend more time with them. She has not retired from higher education, however; she has accepted a job as an associate professor at Trine University in Angola, IN.