Donald L. Showalter is a professor and former chairman of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UWSP) is one of fifteen institutions in the University of Wisconsin System and grants baccalaureate, associate, and masters degrees. ...

Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Showalter received his bachelors degree from Eastern Kentucky University in 1964 and his Ph.D. in 1970 from the University of Kentucky. He spent one year as a research fellow at Oregon State University's Radiation Center before moving to UWSP in 1971. For a brief time (1973-1976) he taught at Iowa Western Community College before returning to UWSP, where he would receive many teaching awards, such as the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents Excellence in Teaching Award in 1994. In September 2006 he won Helen M. Free Award for Public Outreach.[1] “Louisville” redirects here. ... Official language(s) English[1] Capital Frankfort Largest city Louisville Area  Ranked 37th  - Total 40,444 sq mi (104,749 km²)  - Width 140 miles (225 km)  - Length 379 miles (610 km)  - % water 1. ... Eastern Kentucky University, commonly referred to as Eastern or by the acronym EKU by local residents, is an undergraduate and graduate teaching and research institution located in Richmond, Kentucky, U.S.A.. EKU is known for its graduate Criminal Justice program. ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ... Doctor of Philosophy (Ph. ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1970 calendar). ... The University of Kentucky, also referred to as UK, is a public, co-educational university located in Lexington, Kentucky. ... Oregon State University (OSU) is a research and degree-granting four-year public university located in Corvallis, Oregon. ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... Iowa Western Community College is a community college in Council Bluffs, Iowa. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by United Nations. ... September 2006 is the ninth month of 2006 and has begun on a Friday. ...

Teaching Style

Showalter is a proponent of the use of demonstrations in the teaching of science, and has presented programs at Disneyland and the Smithsonian, and has also appeared on the series Newton's Apple. However, he is perhaps best known as Series Demonstrator on the informational video series The World of Chemistry with Roald Hoffmann, which is a popular teaching tool among high school chemistry teachers worldwide. Showalter is somewhat of a cult figure among those who watch the video series, as many consider classic some of the odd and often non-sequitur one-liners he delivers, such as "Wow! What a reaction!", "There it goes!", "Oh, my chemicals!", "Cotton Balls!" and "Look at that!". In context, his exclamation of "The beaker is frozen to the board!" is considered by many viewers to be comical. He also wears an exaggerated toupee, presumably on account of his baldness. His favorite bands include The Clash and The Rolling Stones. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The Smithsonian castle, as seen through the garden gate. ... Newtons Apple was an educational television program distributed to PBS stations in the United States that ran for fifteen seasons from 1983 to 1998. ... The World of Chemistry is a television series on introductory chemistry hosted by Nobel prize-winning chemist Roald Hoffmann. ... Roald Hoffmann (born July 18, 1937 as Roald Safran --- Hoffmann is the surname of his stepfather) is an American theoretical chemist of Polish-Jewish origin. ...

His eccentricity is apparent when he makes such plans as, for the purpose of demonstrating the difference atwixt heterogeneous mixtures and homogeneous mixtures, "Let's make a salad!" In one particular experiment, where Showalter demonstrates negative and positive charge with an elongated rod and two table tennis balls, he can be heard pausing as if to catch himself from laughing at the ambiguously implied phallic properties of the rod and two balls. These interjections are made especially amusing by his unique voice, a somewhat nasal Southern accent; in one memorable scene concerning litmus paper, Showalter provides the mnemonic device "Blue to red, acid," slant-rhyming "red" and "acid". Disappointingly however, he fails to create a mnemonic device for "red to blue." A mixture is a chemical substance which is a homogeneous or heterogeneous association without chemical bonding of chemical elements and/or chemical compounds in varying proportions and that retain their own individual properties and makeup. ... A mixture is a chemical substance which is a homogeneous or heterogeneous association without chemical bonding of chemical elements and/or chemical compounds in varying proportions and that retain their own individual properties and makeup. ... Ping Pong redirects here. ... The term litmus test can be literal or metaphorical. ... Acidity redirects here. ...

A few of Don's students that are well familiar with his work include Frank Valenti and Brad Reese.

External links

• The World Of Chemistry, a show featuring Showalter's demonstrations.