Prof. Tim Friebe Retires

Prof. Friebe retiresProf. Tim Friebe retired in August of 2021, after 22 years of service at EMU. Dr. Friebe earned his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Northwestern University and taught for a few years at another university before arriving here. He specialized in Organic Chemistry and taught courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. In addition, Dr. Friebe served for many years as our department’s Undergraduate Advising Coordinator, where responsibilities included advising for many undergraduate students, consulting with the department head and faculty advisers on complicated advising cases and transfer equivalencies, helping students apply to graduate and assure degree requirements were on track, assisting with course substitutions, and helping to coordinate and staff both recruitment and outreach events and graduation activities. This made him the “right hand man” to the department head for many years. It also made him essential to Chemistry students who looked to him first to answer questions and help solve any problems. Of course, Tim also served on and chaired a number of departmental, college, and university committees throughout the years, also serving as a multi-section course coordinator, the Clem Club advisor, and the pre-pharmacy advisor. One of his most important roles was serving on the scheduling committee, where he provided valuable input on course offerings and staffing, as well as the hiring of part-time lecturers. In addition, Dr. Friebe maintained his research program and mentored research students. Tim was one of those friendly colleagues who would stop by almost daily just to connect and see how things were going and lift your spirits, and his chemistry cartoons, puns, and jokes and sharp wit always brought (and still bring) a smile.