22 | MAY 27 • 2021 

A

$100,000 academic 
award funding the 
study of catalysts in 
the human body became a cat-
alyst for developing unrelated 
science videos that include one 
explaining how COVID-19 vac-
cines prevent infections.
Leah Witus, assistant profes-
sor of chemistry at Macalester 
College in St. Paul, Minn., was 
among 25 educators chosen 
for this year’s Cottrell Scholar 
Awards given by the Research 
Corporation for Science 
Advancement. Each award is 
based on proposals that sug-
gest new scientific research in 
combination with instructional 
initiatives.
“This award is open to pro-
fessors in the third year of their 
tenure track appointments in 
chemistry, physics or astron-
omy,
” said Witus, 35, whose 
interest in teaching chemistry 
came to mind as she studied in 
the Ann Arbor public schools 
and did some tutoring. 
“The use of Cottrell funds is 
pretty open. While they don’t 
go to me personally, they can 
be budgeted for my salary while 
doing the suggested work. A lot 
of my funding will be used to 
create summer research jobs for 
students I can hire, and some 

will go for supplies.
” 
Witus, who won the award 
based in part on her earlier 
work with catalysts, submitted 
her proposal projecting an edu-
cational component as creating 
a new Macalester course to 
explore scientific communi-
cation. Later, devising college 
course content, often presented 
remotely, and looking after 
her two children whose Jewish 
Community Center daycare 
was canceled, Witus got the 
idea for the 10-minute science 
videos.
“My professional life as a 
chemist and my personal life 
as a newly full-time parent 
merged,
” said Witus, who also 
has received a grant from the 
National Institutes of Health. 
“I thought about what I could 
be doing while the kids were 
napping and decided on mak-
ing chemistry videos for them. 
Then, when they woke up, they 
could have fun watching them. 
“I realized that even very 
young kids are ready to learn 
advanced scientific concepts. 
Everything that they’re learning 
is new to them so why not give 
them these concepts about how 
molecules work and how chem-
istry works. They were really 
receptive to it and learned a 

ton. I started posting the videos 
online to share with friends, 
and parents told me they also 
learned a lot.
”

ANIMATED VIDEOS
Among the subjects covered 
in the “Preschool PhD” series, 
available on YouTube, are soap 
and sunscreen. Witus made 
them entirely on her own after 
learning some video-creation 
software tools to enhance her 
hybrid teaching necessitated by 
pandemic distances. She did the 
animation and the voiceovers.
Witus, who was active with 
Temple Beth Emeth while liv-
ing in Ann Arbor, has worked 
with impressive professors and 
met her husband, Dennis Cao, 
in the process. He also teaches 
at Macalester as a chemistry 
professor specializing in organ-
ic materials.
“I went to Rice University 
in Houston and decided to 
major in chemistry because of 
research I did with a professor,
” 
Witus explained. “I thought it 
was fun trying an experiment 
that nobody had tried and 
discovering new things. The 
excitement of original scientific 
research got me hooked. 
“Because I was enjoying 
research so much, I decid-

ed to go to graduate school 
for a Ph.D. and continue 
doing research. I went to 
the University of California 
Berkeley, and worked for 
Professor Matthew Francis, 
who’s now the chair of the 
Department of Chemistry. He 
made the lab feel like a family. 
“
At that point, I decided to 
become a professor, and I went 
to Northwestern University and 
worked for Professor Fraser 
Stoddart, who won the Nobel 
Prize in chemistry in 2016, 
which was after I left. It was an 
honor to get his note of con-
gratulations when he learned of 
my award.
”
Although there were no sci-
entists in Witus’ growing-up 
family, she experienced inspi-
ration from her late maternal 
grandmother, Betty Meyer, who 
earned a Ph.D. in math when 
very few women entered that 
field.
Witus and her husband were 
pleased that they both could 
work at a liberal arts college 
that would allow them more 
interaction with students, and 
she is glad that her animated 
videos are getting attention.
“My hope is that people 
enjoy the videos for kids 
and with kids, especially the 
COVID vaccine video,
” Witus 
said. “The goal is that when 
people are able to see the world 
from a molecular viewpoint, 
a lot of things make sense. 
Understanding the pandemic 
we’re in, how viruses spread 
and why vaccines work shares 
knowledge beyond the scientif-
ic classroom.
” 

OUR COMMUNITY

Leah
Witus

Details

Leah Witus’ videos can 
be found by Googling 
“YouTube — Preschool 
PhD” or clicking 
youtu.be/Fv5bs4SPiYE

Ann Arbor native wins chemistry award; 
develops kids’ video explaining vaccines.

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Vaccine Video

