Q & A: Professor Lester Mitscher

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

What courses do you teach? I teach courses in herbal medicines, antibiotics and medicinal biochemistry. My duties are becoming a lot less because I’m near retirement.

Where did you go to college? I did my undergraduate and graduate at Wayne State University in Detroit.

What inspired you to teach? Well, my parents are both immigrants. My dad is Czech-German and my mom is Irish-Canadian. They respected teachers above anyone else. It was a given that I wanted to do it, and they met with no resistance and I love it.

Where are you from? I’m from Detroit.

Have you had any funny moments while you were teaching? Well, what we professors find funny, students usually don’t find funny. Occasionally students misspell words that are bizarre to us. One student wrote, “He got a plastic enema,” when the correct answer was aplastic anemia.

What is your favorite sports team? I would have to say the Jayhawks. I occasionally follow the Tigers, Lions, and Redwings.

Are you upset the Rockies lost in the World Series? No, I don’t care either way. Baseball is one of those sports that is fun to play but boring to watch.

What’s the worst job you’ve had? I worked midnights at the auto factory when I was an undergraduate. It was scary because most people would lose a finger.

Favorite type of music? I love Mozart. I haven’t liked popular music in decades.

What’s your ideal weekend? Well, I work most weekends, but my work lets me travel. I would enjoy traveling.

Where have you traveled to? You name it, I’ve been there. All the continents except Antarctica. I’ve been everywhere.

Do you have any pet peeves? I try to not let peeves interfere with my life. But as a professor, it peeves me when people don’t take advantage of opportunities, they just drift through college.

— Edited by Elizabeth Cattell

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