Sustaining a legacy in STEM the Prof. Tara Prasad Dasgupta way: The role of a mentor in our lives

Abstract

A mentoring relationship is a close, individualized relationship that develops over time between a graduate student and his/her adviser, and that includes both caring and guidance. Although there is a connection between mentors and advisers, not all mentors are advisers and not all advisers are mentors, but in this case, one adviser was a mentor to all. In his eloquent style, an inspirational mentor of underrepresented individuals in Jamaica by the name of Prof. Tara Prasad Dasgupta, AKA Prof., paved the way for many us who studied in the Department of Chemistry, The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica from 1974 until his passing on Monday, April 2020 due to the complications of the COVID-19. Based on his effective mentoring style and the fact that there is low percentage of underrepresented individuals who pursue Ph.D. degrees in the STEM subjects around the world, more so here in the U.S.A., Europe, and in the U.K., hence there is a need to write about a story on sustaining a legacy in STEM the Prof. Tara Prasad Dasgupta way, viz., the role of a mentor in our lives. As such, his style is documented here, along with testimonies from his former graduate students, including myself.

Introduction

There is growing concern that the U.S.A. does not produce a sufficient number of majors in STEM fields in order to remain globally competitive. Of particular concern is the underrepresentation of women and minorities in STEM fields. Despite substantial advances and extensive efforts to bridge the divide, significant gaps remain between the educational attainment of minority students and their majority peers¹. Underrepresented minority (URM)students are just as interested in majoring in science upon entering college as freshmen, but the numbers of those receiving bachelors’ degrees, attending graduate school, and earning doctorate degrees are very small². Of all the students who expressed an interest to pursue the sciences, approximately 67.6% Caucasians, 5.8% Hispanics, 4.7% African Americans go on to earn a doctorate degree. While we highlight biology as a prominent biomedical feeder discipline, very similar data are found across biomedical disciplines. Clearly, URMs disproportionately face stereotype threats about being intellectually inferior and thus leave the sciences in their freshman year^3–4. This disparity is expected to broaden with more URM students attaining undergraduate degrees and fewer entering and attaining the doctorate degrees^3–4.

Millions of dollars of support over the years have been expended to remedy the underrepresentation of women and minorities in different STEM disciplines. An underlying premise of virtually every major intervention designed to increase the representation of women and racial and ethnic minority group members in STEM careers is that there exists a dominant pipeline toward those careers, but the pipe is leaking. There is the philosophy underpinning undergraduate participation in research in that by applying classroom knowledge to real-world experiences in a laboratory, students can bridge the gap between classroom academics and practical application⁵. The closure of this gap through mentored research encourages students to invest more time and effort into their studies, thereby having a number of positive impacts as reported in a study of a novel undergraduate program at the University of Texas (UT), Austin, has found that giving college freshmen the opportunity to do research as part of their coursework significantly increases their chances of completing college and graduating with a science degree⁶.

Several studies have pointed to specific academic performance gains among undergraduate researchers. Nagda et al.⁷ reported positive impacts on retention of students in the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program at the University of Michigan, and these impacts were greatest for students at the greatest risk of attrition. Maton et al.⁸. have reported increases in grade-point average and graduation rates for students participating in the Meyerhoff Scholars program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Several studies have also pointed to cognitive gains that contribute to self-efficacy and other positive attributes. Hunter, Laursen, and Seymour^9–10 attributed significant increases in self-confidence to participation in undergraduate research.

Many studies report that student researchers show enhanced socialization to professional STEM careers, they better understand the demands on scientists and the day-to-day paradigm of conducting research⁹. These gains in research skills have been corroborated by interviews with faculty mentors¹¹, and as a result, students leave mentored research programs better prepared to discuss research results, give a poster presentation, and apply ethical principles in research¹². Also, students most immersed in the culture of research activity within a laboratory, i.e., those students who had the opportunity to coauthor a paper, attend a professional conference, or mentor a younger student, showed greater gains than students not engaged in these activities. Also, the duration of the research experience was correlated with the degree of gains by the student. This later point, that longer experiences are more impactful than short ones, has been corroborated by Thiry, Weston, Laursen, and Hunter¹³.

One thing that is beneficial is student-with-faculty contact and student-with-student As reported previously^13–14, it is important to note that the lasting nature of the relationship between a mentor and a mentee is essential to its success in having impacts on self-perception, self-efficacy, and future ambitions. I must also stress that many of my colleagues and friends do understand that strong mentorship enhances a student’s motivation and productivity and long-term career success^15–34. In various studies on student outcomes, mentoring is found to be associated with increased retention and shorter time to undergraduate and graduate degrees. Importantly, the continuum of mentoring has been shown to have a lasting positive impact in terms of predicting research productivity^35–37, thus successfully recruiting students from underrepresented groups to pursue science research careers continues to be a challenge. Early exposure to scientific research is often cited as a powerful means to attract research scholars with the research mentor being critical in facilitating the development of an individual’s science identity and career; however, most mentors in the sciences have had little formal training in working with research mentees. There is a need to train the mentors.

It must be also stressed that underrepresented students need to interact with their faculty mentors directly, rather than through a chain of master’s students, doctoral students, and postdoctoral fellows. This “flattened” research pyramid affords a close working relationship between students and mentors and opportunities for older undergraduates to assume leadership and training roles. Strong mentorship has been linked to enhanced mentee productivity, self-efficacy, career satisfaction, and is an important predictor of the academic success of scientists in training^{7, 10, 33, 38–40}.

A combination of qualitative and quantitative data indicate that compared to untrained mentors, the mentors who participated in entering mentoring assess their mentees’ skills and communicate with them more effectively. Moreover, undergraduate researchers have reported that they had a better experience with the trained, as compared to untrained, mentors⁴¹. What undergraduate researchers have reported⁴¹ is also related to my very own experience of effective mentoring by Prof. Tara Prasad Dasgupta during my undergraduate and graduate studies at The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica. Such mentoring has significantly impacted every aspect of my life. I am forever indebted to all those who mentored me over those years. In particular, I am eternally grateful to Prof. Tara Prasad Dasgupta for his outstanding contribution to my personal and professional development and the bond that was forged during my undergraduate years, further strengthened during my graduate years and beyond. His passing due to the effect of COVID-19 on the morning of Monday, April 20, 2020, came as a deep shock to me especially since up to the week before his passing, he informed me about the approval for me to serve as an external examiner for the dissertation of one of his Ph.D. students. As such, I will tell the reader about my journey under his wings.

My Mentor Extraordinaire, Prof. Tara P. Dasgupta

“Life is so short” were the words that immediately came to mind when on Monday, April 21, 2020, I received word that my former Ph.D. advisor and mentor, Prof. Tara P. Dasgupta, affectionately called Prof. (https://www.mona.uwi.edu/chemistry/staff/academic/tp-dasgupta) had passed away on Monday, April 20, 2020 at 1:38 a.m., Jamaican time, from complications of COVID-19 at the University Hospital of the University of the West Indies in Jamaica. I then had an immediate flashback on thirty three years later of my life.

My journey from 1987 to present (http://fs.wp.odu.edu/aholder/): Effects of the Mona Campus and Prof. Tara P. Dasgupta. I remember heading to the Mona Campus, Jamaica in October 1987, after spending two years at The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados, to pursue a B.Sc. degree in Special Chemistry. While at The University of the West Indies (UWI), Cave Hill Campus, Barbados, I studied very hard in order to achieve the B+ grade required for a transfer to The UWI Mona campus in order to matriculate into the academically rigorous Special (Honours) Chemistry programme. My dreams came through late September 1987 when I received a telegram from Jamaica that I was accepted into the Special Chemistry program at Mona Campus, where there is a unique Assembly Hall Mural is located (photo 1). My mother and I had to run around to sort out a list of things before I headed to Jamaica which resulted in my arrival two weeks late into the academic term. During my first week, I was very warmly greeted by the Head of Department, Prof. Earl Roberts, who assured me that everything will be okay and to let him know if I needed any assistance. My very first lecture, in physical chemistry, was with Professor Willard Pinnock (Sir, R.I.P.) who was lecturing the topic entitled “The Big Bang Theory”. At that time, I was sitting next to Paul “Magnum” Aiken, who later became my great friend from then until today.

Photo 1.

The unique Assembly Hall Mural of Mona Campus, Jamaica.

I was most surprised to learn that a lecturer, who we thought was one of us in the beginning, was a recent graduate student of Prof. Dasgupta; it was no other that Dr. Novelette Sadler-McKnight (see photo 2) who lectured us physical chemistry in the first term of the 1988/1989 academic year. Man, were we happy to be in her lectures, so too was the great neurosurgeon, Dr. Carl ‘Betta Looking” Bruce, who sat next to me during her lectures. Never a dull moment in her lectures.

Photo 2.

A photo of me with Dr. Novelette Sadler-McKnight (left) and her former high school chemistry teacher, now, Master Blender of the Campari Group, Joy Spence, M.Sc., OD (right) on November 29, 2018 at 9:54 p.m.

In the first week of Special Chemistry, I asked myself “What did I get myself into?” I didn’t know that in the first year of Special Chemistry I would have to complete Advanced I and Advanced II of the general degree in one year, even all of the laboratory courses. It was like living daily in a chemistry laboratory. I remember failing the course work exams that were administered after the Christmas and Easter breaks of the academic year, not knowing that we, the seven of us, were the guinea pigs for the semester courses to come to The University of the West Indies in the near future. All members of the class (Kamaluddin Abdur Rashid, Richard Sinclair, Richard Fairman, Mario Anderson, Richard Spencer, Jennifer and Hiru), were called individually to the round table to explain to Dr. Roberts and the Section Heads of inorganic, organic, and physical chemistry, to explain why we failed the course work exams. I can still recall the serious look on Prof. Tara P. Dasgupta, the section head of inorganic chemistry. I did enjoy the engaging lectures, and thought very highly all of the lecturers.

I must say that the academic year, 1988/1989 was the BEST!!! It involved special topics and we were treated like graduate students, and studied courses with the graduate students. We were ahead of our time while being undergraduate students!! During this academic year, while on a quest to find a supervisor for my research project, I was approached by Prof. Tara Dasgupta who asked me to work on a project involving L-ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and a cobalt(III) complex, [Co(NH₃)₅(S₂O₃)]⁺ (which was the same complex that was used by another great mentor of mine for his M.S. thesis, Dr. Anthony Newton). The wise person that he was, managed to convince me by telling me that cobalt is in vitamin B₁₂ and that vitamin C is good for you as an antioxidant. I got excited and started on the project while being co-mentored by Prof. Mike Pavelich of Colorado School of Mines who was on a Sabbatical Leave at The UWI, Mona Campus.

The research project was an eye opener for me, working just hours before the UWI Carnival in the Spring of 1989 and making an oral presentation to Prof.’s research group (see photo 3 for a typical group meeting with Prof.), me, an undergraduate student among the pros, such as Prof. Dasgupta, Prof. Pavelich, Dr. Garfield Sadler, Dr. Novelette Sadler-McKnight, and graduate students, Karlene Vassel, Paul Maragh, Donovan Dixon, Richard Kirby, Stephene Morris, Eugenie Staff, and Opal Nelson.

Photo 3.

A typical research group meeting with Prof. (front row). From the back, Richard Kirby and Karlene Vassel; second row from the front, Eugenie Staff and Dr. Garfield Sadler (R.I.P.). Photo courtesy of Prof. Michael Pavelich.

I somehow managed to cope with the stress of the programme by my regular trips to the gym with my gym buddy, Paul Aiken. I completed the programme and graduated in July 1989 with a B.Sc. in Special Chemistry with Upper Second Class Honours. This was a great accomplishment for me considering that it was my first experience of living on my own and being far way form home and missing my mother (no father at all).

I considered pursuing graduate students in inorganic chemistry with either Prof. Henry Taube or Prof. Harry B. Gray, but they were not taking any students. As a result of that, I worked in Barbados, teaching chemistry at Harrison College from September 1989 to December 1989; then at The St. Michael Secondary School from January 1990 until July 1990. Prof. Dasgupta convinced me to return to Jamaica to study for an M.Phil. degree as a path towards a Ph.D. degree, and I took the invitation and started my graduate studies in October 1990. I recall an occasion in 1991, when Prof. asked me if I would like to pursue my Ph.D. degree at Oxford, I told him “no” because he was the best mentor, and I didn’t wish to leave the Caribbean! No regrets making that decision!!

My research project was focused on synthesizing binuclear complexes containing both with cobalt(III) and molybdenum(VI) metal centres. I discovered early that working with molybdenum(VI)-containing species is not for the faint hearted. It is like squatting 1000 lbs of free weights. In my first year carrying out kinetics of the acid hydrolysis of the complexes, Prof. didn’t believe my results, as the acid concentration was increased, the rate of reaction decreased. It took Prof. John Burgess and Prof. Geoff Sykes to convince Prof. that my mechanism which included a change in coordination number from four to six was happening for the molybdenum(VI) metal centre during acid hydrolysis (see Holder, Alvin A.; Dasgupta, Tara P. “Synthesis, acid hydrolysis and formation of the [(H₃N)₅CoOMoO₃]⁺ ion in aqueous solution.” J. Chem. Soc., Dalton Trans. 1996, 2637–2643).

Prof. eventually trusted me as a researcher and sent me to Brooklyn College (March-April 1993, thanks to Dr. Stanley Bajue who made all arrangements at Brooklyn College, New York) to carry out ESR measurements as I told him that I knew that we were producing a paramagnetic species from Mo(V) species. My results were such that I was able to present at the Spring ACS National Meeting in Denver, Colorado, in March 1993. This first experience of travelling alone on my very first trip outside the Caribbean to the U.S.A. This was an unforgettable trip as I had to battle with snow in New York and the thin air at high altitude in Denver. Thankfully I had the warm hospitality of Prof. Michael Pavelich of Colorado School of Mines and his family in whose home I stayed.

Among the many skills that I developed during my years as a graduate student is my ability to think outside the box as well as my ability to work with minimal supervision. This can be attributed largely to Prof.’s mentorship style. He was never one to “spy” on us or forced us to be locked in the laboratory, instead he gave us room to try, fail and try again. I enjoyed the Saturday group meetings from 0900 to 1300 hours, the only time available to him when he was the Head of Department of Chemistry (1992–2002 as shown in photo 4) as THE FOREVER GUIDE!!

Photo 4.

Photo of Prof. in the Conference Room, Department of Chemistry, Mona Campus.

He always allowed us to be involved in sports so that we can channel our energy and become disciplined. As such, he allowed me to train daily, Monday to Friday at 4:30 p.m. with my gym training partners, Odelley Henry and Paul Aiken (see photo 5). This allowed me to eat healthy and not to be come mentally drained from the rigors of graduate school.

Photo 5.

Left to right: Drs. Paul Aiken and Odelley Henry on January 9, 2009 at 6:35 p.m.

I remember during the middle of 1993 when the Chemistry Department was looking for an NMR engineer, and Prof., as Head, Department of Chemistry, asked me for advice on who should he hire. I told him, hire Paul Aiken, whose background was in physics and electronics and to my surprise, he took my advice! This is one example, where he treated me as his equal, even though I was a graduate student. Would a mentor do that to his mentee? I don’t know the answer, but Prof. did!!

To make me become a mentor, that summer of 1993, Prof. put in charge to mentor and supervise of an undergraduate student, Ronald “Vampire” Robinson (see photo 6), to synthesize MoS₄²⁻ from MoO₄²⁻ and H₂S. That same student, Ronald Robinson, eventually continued the research on molybdenum(VI) and earned his Ph.D. degree in inorganic chemistry in 2008.

Photo 6.

Backrow, Dr. Ronald Robinson with the study abroad in Jamaica students on January 6, 2010 at 1:06 p.m.

When he advised me to submit my Ph.D. thesis it required me meeting with him from 1700 to 1900 hours every working day to go through every page of the various drafts. That was the only time available to him. One advice he gave me was to submit my Ph.D. thesis in December 1993 before taking up a faculty position at The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados

I joined the faculty at The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados, on January 10, 1994 as assistant lecturer in physical chemistry. I must say that I was fortunate to successfully defend my Ph.D. thesis in May 1994, whereby this was my very first academic job with no interview and no postdoctoral experience, all possible because of a mentor who looked out for me; brought out the best in me; respected me and for whom I had the utmost of respect and trust.

In 1995, he encouraged me to apply for a Leverhulme Fellowship to pursue further studies on molybdenum Prof. A. Geoffrey Sykes at the University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, U.K.; followed by another U.W.I./IADB Fellowship with Dr. Edward I. Stiefel at Exxon Research and Engineering Company, Annandale, New Jersey in 1996. Everything was based on molybdenum and cobalt (the same metal that Apple is making millions from).

Prof. was also very instrumental in helping my graduate students from Cave Hill Campus, viz., Sophia Marshall, Vince Payne, and Gabriel Harewood, all who obtained their Ph.D. degrees and we co-supervised Ross Browne for his M.Phil. degree in inorganic chemistry, all when I was on no-paid leave from 2001 until 2003 while being a faculty member at Cave Hill Campus.

Over the years and up to the week before his passing, we communicated regularly with each other offering advice when necessary. He persuaded me to become a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, followed by a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, 08/01/1997-present: The Royal Society of Chemistry, U.K. (Admitted as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) on January 19, 2015).

Whenever I took students on a study abroad program to the Jamaica, Prof. always took time to meet and talk to the students, e.g., on one occasion on May 24, 2018, where he had dinner with the students (see photo 7 with the students and the Dr. Roy Porter, former Head, Department of Chemistry, Mona Campus).

Photo 7.

Backrow, Prof. and Dr. Roy Porter with the study abroad in Jamaica students on May 24, 2018 at 9:57 p.m.

The last time I saw him in person was on Friday, November 30, 2018 in Jamaica when I was attending the 21^st General Meeting and Conference of The Caribbean Academy Sciences (CAS) and the Caribbean Academy Sciences Jamaica (CASJ), November 27–30, 2018, The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica (see photos 8–11 for the period, November 27–30, 2018, our memories with him).

Photo 8.

Lunch with Prof., clockwise: Dr. Kamaluddin Abdur-Rashid, Prof. Willard Pinnock (R.I.P.), Dr. Paul Maragh, Prof. Sean McDowell, Dr. Roy Porter, Dr. Sekazi Mtingwa, and me on November 28, 2018 at 12:53 p.m.

Photo 11.

Prof. with Dr. Kamaluddin Abdur-Rashid, Prof. Sean McDowell, and me on November 29, 2018 at 10:22 p.m.

So full of energy, that at the age of 79 years on January 29, 2020 (DOB: January 29, 1941), he had a full research group running. Professor Tara Dasgupta was like a father to all of us. I try to emulate many of his traits as I strive to with humility and respect.

In closing, what are the traits and role of an effective mentor? Among these are undoubtedly the ability and need of a mentor to serve as a guide. As a guide an advisor/mentor’s main role is to foster and nurture independent thought and innovation in such a manner so as to empower and develop confidence in the student/mentee. The relationship between mentor and mentee should allow for a sufficient level of comfort to enable both to express opinions and ideas freely with fear of repercussions or judgment. Engagement in research for students at all levels is a transformative experience only if and when they are allowed the freedom of thought and expression devoid of attempts to by the mentor to impose their own values, views on the mentee. Respect for the young person’s perspective, worldview, backgrounds are key in the development of a sustained relationship of trust, respect and congeniality. The mentee should focus not only the research at hand but also on the social and mental development of the mentee. The need to advise, empathise, guide, and mould the mentee is also of paramount importance.

As we reflect on excerpts from some of the former students (as shown below) of Prof. Tara Dasgupta, and his role as mentor in their own lives and professional development, it is clear that as mentor he not only was an outstanding scientist but epitomized care, wisdom, concern, passion, and gratitude towards his students. His ability to engender confidence, independent thought and creativity while playing a pivotal role in his students’ development is legendary. Perhaps we can endorse that among the items in his toolkit for effective mentorship would be the following tips:

• Always ensure that the needs of the mentee should be paramount and not the needs or wants of the mentor

• Schedule consistent opportunities to meet face to face, online etc. and discuss research goals, progress, etc. It is important that the objectives of these meeting be clearly articulated in advance in order that adequate preparation is ensured, and useful feedback be forthcoming.

• Keep communication lines open and be always accessible. Direct communication versus via graduate students, postdoctoral fellows should be the preferred route

• Where possible involve other graduate students, research fellows, senior undergraduates in the as part of the mentorship team. This person should be able to provide daily research supervision and guidance with you as the main mentor for the Mentee.

• Provide consistent feedback to the mentee on research progress, personal development and solicit assessment of one’s own mentorship

• Encourage participation in laboratory meetings, journal clubs, on-going scientific conversations, informal chats, and social events within the laboratory. Seek out opportunities that will stretch the mental capabilities of the mentee.

• Share your enthusiasm for research. Your passion for research can be inspirational.

• Assist the Mentee in preparing research presentations (posters and talks) and manuscripts for publication.

• Assist the Mentee in identifying suitable conferences to attend with you or the graduate student/post-doctoral fellow who will serve as a guide.

• Assist the Mentee in developing professional networks.

• Help demystify research and graduate school. Help the Mentee understand aspects of the process/culture that may be “second-nature” to you but not necessarily obvious to an undergraduate student.

• Give the Mentee opportunities to develop their leadership and communication skills. Invite them to give presentations at group meetings, initiate projects, and organize events.

• Provide honest, critical feedback to the Mentee to help her/him become independent thinkers and leaders.

I do advise mentors to take advantage of what is written above and to note that the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) offers evidence-based training (https://nrmnet.net/research-mentor-training/) for all faculty mentors. The training is designed to help mentors develop skills for engaging in productive, culturally responsive, research mentoring relationships, i.e., relationships that optimize the success of both mentors and mentees.

The Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER) has a mission to improve the research mentoring relationships for mentees and mentors at all career stages through the development, implementation and study of evidence-based and culturally-responsive interventions.

CIMER (https://cimerproject.org/mission-history/ and https://cimerproject.org/#/) will:

• Facilitate research mentor and mentee training for mentees and mentors at all career stages

• Develop and study new approaches and resources for advancing mentoring relationships

• Promote cultural change that values excellence in research mentoring

• Build a network of mentors, mentees, and those engaged in enhancing and studying research mentoring relationships

• Advance diversity in the research enterprise

At this point, I will go into personal reflections of the influence that Prof. had on his former graduate students. Here, Prof. Michael J. Pavelich, Emeritus Professor, Colorado School of Mines, gives his personal statement in the section entitled “LEADER PAR EXCELLENCE”

LEADER PAR EXCELLENCE

Tara Dasgupta and I met in Gordon Harris’ group at SUNY, Buffalo, in 1967. He, Ted Spinner and I had a great time together doing inorganic kinetics, talking results, laughing as Tara made fun of American slang, and becoming life-long friends. Tara was one of the groomsmen at Pat and my wedding in 1969, and we got to know Sibani soon after the two of them were married. Our children became good friends when Tara arranged a nine-month sabbatical for us at The UWI in 1988–1989. I was so impressed with how Tara had contributed to the build-up of The UWI Chemistry Department and in the quality of the graduate students he mentored. What a man, and what a friend!

Prof. Michael J. Pavelich, Emeritus Professor, Colorado School of Mines.

A MAGICAL BOND

“… I do not know how to even grieve over this gem of a gentleman! May be I should spend time thinking about all what he meant to me. This way I might celebrate (try to duplicate/replicate) his life than lament over the loss”. In the train of thoughts that went through my mind, I got stuck on one - a message and its reply from me to him in August 2018. I told him “I have good news for you. The Book, ‘Sustainability Models for a Better World’, is published. The project has taken almost two years..’ and I gave the link as well, https://econtent.wageningenacademic.com/product/sustainability-models-for-better-world, etc.

Immediately he replied, “I am so happy to be informed that finally your book has been published. Big congratulation to you! I look forward to reading the book. I am notifying all my students. Alvin Holder is the best person to spread the news. Very best wishes, Prof.” It never stopped there, he wanted to take me to a regional meeting in the Caribbean, have a special launching of my book there. These are all his plans and I thought, after all, the book in reference had little to do directly with what I learned from him at UWI in the late 1970s; yet the big man was so happy to hear the news of the book’s publication. That’s how he is, even small things from his students made him immensely happy!

During my graduate days, fixing a carbonate ligand between two cobalt centres was hard enough, exploring the fate of these binuclear cobalt entities in a carbonate medium was harder still. Nonetheless, for what I did, I got a Ph.D. degree in record time, and another couple of years of visiting lectureship in SUNY, USA was enough to convince me that what I learned during the Ph.D. work, i.e., to explore the mechanism of chemical reactions, be that the sulfite chemistry of platinum complexes (SUNY, NY), the redox chemistry of mixed valent complexes (University of Guelph, Canada), or the reaction mechanism of tributyl tin in marine sediments in the Fiji waters of the Pacific Ocean (The University of the South Pacific, Fiji), will stand in good stead for my later years!

I began to realize, it is not so much what I learned, after all, but how I learned that mattered most! Wow… Prof, what YOU taught me was how to learn, than what to learn, which continues to have a profound impact on my life. It is this confidence that enabled me to move from a strictly disciplinary environment of Chemistry to an interdisciplinary setting of Sustainability and its ‘reaction pathway’ - Sustainable Development. The book I published was about this field.

I’m still learning new things…that the very Fragrance and Abundance (the next book) of life in its fullness is but a few principles - be they educational values or faith ethics - there are only very few who could help unravel it; Prof., you are one of them, one who can establish that magical bond! Though Chemistry and its varied reaction mechanism are complicated to follow in the laboratories of our life, but a kind of hard work that we saw in you, Prof., which may even be contagious, has already become an epidemic and have even started to take on pandemic proportions (see photo 12).

Photo 12.

Prof. and Prof. Kanayathu C. Koshy.

Prof. Kanayathu C Koshy, Emeritus Professor, Kerala, India. E-Mail: kanayathu.koshy@gmail.com.

THE MASTER TEACHER

My first encounters with Prof. left me with the impression that he is an extraordinary human being. For how else can I describe someone who has the enthusiasm of a child; the energy of a teenager; the passion of a young adult (in love) and yet the wisdom of an old soul all wrapped up in a distinct yet not intimidating frame? How else can I rationalize my experience when I, along with my Special Chemistry laboratory partner, Oral, went to him to get our inorganic chemistry project only to be presented with a piece of platinum wire and asked to convert it into a binuclear platinum complex with bridging hydroxyl groups. So flabbergasted were we that all we could say was “yes sir” following it up with a hasty retreat to the library to consult with journals. I then learnt my first lesson,

Lesson 1: This teacher was not going to “provide a fish, but teach how to fish”

Our relationship strengthened as he continued to entrust me as a summer student with the responsibilities of making several cobalt complexes including the dreaded “triol”(tris(μ-hydroxo)bis(triamminecobalt(III)); using conductance techniques to assess charges on complexes; and even to do pioneering work on the photolysis, hydrolysis, encapsulation of the pesticide α and β endosulphan. His radiating energy made me strong to do a great deal in a short time. In short, I achieved near mastery of almost all instruments in the Department and a mind stretched beyond my years. Then came the next lesson.

Lesson #2: “A wise teacher does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind”. (Albert Einstein)

As fate would have it, I experienced delay with my project, and with my primary supervisor. In an effort not to waste time, he, as the second supervisor, suggested that I occupy myself looking at the synthesis and reactivity of some chromato cobalt(III) complexes. Easy enough I thought; after all, it was only for a few months until “my real” project would get started. Well, a few months morphed into more months and included molybdato complexes, etc., and paved the way to several other branches and fruits of his research tree. During that period, he was never the supervisor to give instructions; opting instead to give you room to grow. His late evening treks to the research lab provided us with special time to discuss issues of the day, politics, and of course more chemistry. In our mind’s eyes we met Gilbert Gordon, Geoffrey Sykes, Martin Tobe, James Espenson, and all the other top researchers in the field long before we actually met them. Left to “supervise” myself due to his departure on a Fulbright fellowship, and the role of group supervisor for my peers, the third lesson slowly emerged.

Lesson #3: “There are two kinds of teachers: the kind that fill you with so much quail shot that you can’t move, and the kind that just gives you a little prod behind and you jump to the skies”. (Robert Frost)

His intellect, planted at The University of the West Indies (UWI), as a small seed by doing research on the activation of small molecules such as CO₂ and SO₂ by cobalt(III) complexes, has now branched to include studies on chromium, molybdenum, rhodium, iron, pesticides, analytical chemistry, catalysis, smart buildings, and has scattered fruits and seeds all across the globe ensuring a legacy of intellectual forests. His vision, clarity of mind, scholarship, commitment, and enormous capacity for hard work, all hallmarks of his complexity, still continue to amaze and inspire us all. I am sure you will agree with me when I say that:

“The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called ‘truth’.” (Dan Rather).

Prof. was undoubtedly that kind of a teacher. I pay tribute to you with gratitude and love for your expert teaching and mentoring. Your legacy, like energy can never be destroyed.

Dr. Novelette Sadler-McKnight, Department of Chemistry, UWI, Mona Campus, Jamaica. E-mail: novelette.sadlermcknight@uwimona.edu.jm.

HE EMPOWERED

I can’t remember when I first met Professor Dasgupta during my undergraduate years at The University of the West Indies (UWI) or as the locals say, ‘you wee’. However, I do recall on a couple of occasions seeing this somewhat short in stature, bespectacled, very brisk walking individual of Indian descent on the corridors of the chemistry department. I found out later that he was the only professor in the department. That’s not strange in the least, since the University was a product of the British University system. Therefore, he was affectionately known as the ‘Prof.’ in the department, and even to this very day, all his many students simply refer to him as Prof.

As a senior special chemistry student, I had the very good fortune to select one of his mini projects to work on. I thought it was an easy inorganic type of project - to build this sepulchrate, or cage-like ligand capable of encapsulating metal ions. Although I did not build the structure, much to my chagrin, I truly had fun; learnt a good amount of chemistry from my interactions with Prof. and some of his pompous graduate students. It was also my way of getting introduced to the research environment and being able to try out new ideas, and experimenting with various chemically related ‘stuff.’

Later, I joined his Inorganic Reaction Mechanism research group, in part due to my earlier undergraduate experience when I had tried unsuccessfully in my bid to make the cobalt analog of the sepulchrate ([(1,3,6,8,10,13,16,19-octaazabicyclo [6.6.6]icosane) cobalt(III)] chloride! I learnt a tremendous amount about conducting research. While being a part of the research group I felt empowered to keep trying despite any perceived or inherent difficulties, and in the process learnt a great deal more than just chemistry, all under his expert guidance and supervision. Like many of us, and the entire chemistry department at UWI, I can say unequivocally that I really do owe a lot to Professor Dasgupta. I have benefitted a great deal in numerous areas of my personal and professional life, and I am in part, a product of his far reaching insights, helpful suggestions, unending wisdom and yes, his abundant patience. Go Prof! Keep going (as quoted before his death).

Dr. Donovan A. Dixon, Department of Chemistry, University of Central Florida. E-mail: donovan.dixon@ucf.edu.

EXEMPLARY SCIENTIST

It is not a hyperbole to suggest that Professor Dasgupta has had a tremendous effect on me as a person and as a chemist. My first deep interaction with “Prof” was as a second-year student “Special Chemistry” degree program at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus. This inorganic class I would say was the one that most kept my focus and cemented my decision to opt for a chemistry degree rather than pursue chemical engineering. Indeed, when I was looking for graduate programs away from UWI, it was Prof. who provided the most inciteful advice. This is the primary reason why I joined his research group. I am forever grateful for his mentoring during my graduate studies; his thoughtfulness in granting my Tutor assistantship; and his help and guidance in obtaining funding for my postdoctoral studies. He was highly influential in providing the opportunity to join the research group that I did at Texas A&M University. All these experiences allowed me to enter the academy and has enabled my success. I think this special Issue of Inorganica Chimica Acta honoring Professor Dasgupta is truly the perfect way to say thank you to an exemplary scientist, mentor and person.

Professor. Floyd A. Beckford: Duke Kunshan University, 8 Duke Ave, Kunshan, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China, 215316. E-mail: floyd.beckford@dukekunshan.edu.cn

PROFESSOR EXTRAORDINAIRE

“If I have seen further than others, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants. Sir Isaac Newton” Such a giant was Professor Tara Dasgupta.

I first heard of Professor Dasgupta sometime in 1997 through my good friend and treasured colleague, Dr. Alvin Holder (Houba), who at that time was a research student of Professor Dasgupta. However, it was not until September of 1999 when I joined the Pesticides Research Group at the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI), which he headed, that I met him in person, and he was introduced as my supervisor. I can vividly recall my first sight of this diminutive, bespectacled sartorially elegant gentleman sporting a courteous smile, a very pleasant demeanor and a vivid sense of humor. This very welcoming and accommodating attributes remained all through my tenure with him.

I, along with my fellow research colleagues, who have had the privilege of his guardianship, can attest to the fact that Prof. Dasgupta was a most dedicated and devoted research supervisor/Lecturer. At Research Group Meetings he always spoke to us in a controlled manner that was very effective at holding our attention. Also, he was always most prepared for his sessions with us. This was most evident in his thorough explanations and the way he made concepts that appeared insurmountable to us, quite simple. He always had this nonchalant way about him and never appeared to be disturbed. In addition, he ensured that he provided the optimum conditions to enable us to carry out our respective research projects. This assisted us greatly in completing our respective courses of study in a timely manner.

If I were to compile a list of professors or simply persons in general, who have been most impactful on my life, Prof. Dasgupta, - “Professor Extraordinaire”-would certainly sit comfortably very close to the pinnacle. My thoughts of him and what he has meant to me both personally and professionally will be forever etched in my memory. He was a great man to work with and his contributions to my professional development have been both immeasurable and invaluable.

As quoted by Malverne before Prof. passed away, “It is reassuring to know that those who have worked so hard receive the recognition they deserve. I am therefore pleased and extremely honored to join in congratulating Professor Tara Dasgupta and wish him all the best in his future endeavor”.

Dr. Malverne P. Spencer, Assistant Professor, Organic Chemistry at American International College of Arts and Sciences, Antigua.

HE INSPIRED

My first interaction with Prof was at an inorganic chemistry tutorial during my first year at the University of the West Indies. On entering the packed lecture hall, he introduced himself as “Professor Tara Dasgupta - the only professor in the Department of Chemistry”. We had a good laugh, and then he started teaching. The crescendo of his voice and animated presentation of the solutions and course material was a wonder to behold. After completing the tutorial, he reviewed the course, provided tips and gave an open invitation to the hundreds of students who wanted to follow up. Throughout my undergraduate Special Chemistry program, Prof’s classes were wonders to behold. His lectures were presented with enthusiasm, fervor, fascination and attention to detail.

My first research project with Prof. was a summer project after completing my undergraduate exams. This was an important opportunity for me, since I was trying to decide if I should pursue a career in chemistry or medicine. At the end of the summer, I realized how challenging research could be, even with maximum effort and countless hours. My project, on the hydrolysis of PCB’s using acids and bases, was not successful. Prof.’s opinion was different. My contribution was “tremendous”. He commended my focus and dedication to a difficult project for three months. The fact that my project failed means that other means must be investigated. He suggested that I take time to decide what I wanted to do and he gave me an overview of other research opportunities at UWI and abroad.

My Ph.D. research project entitled “Solvation and Reactivity of Cobalt(III) Complexes in Aqueous Cosolvent Mixtures” gave me the opportunity to work with the most remarkable teacher and mentor throughout my career. He encouraged me to incorporate my own ideas and to expand on his original concepts while focusing on the objective. His passion and enthusiasm for research was boundless.

After migrating to Canada, I had the opportunity to work as a researcher at two universities. The enthusiasm for chemistry I inherited from Prof. was the driving force behind my venture into catalysis and applied research. During this time Prof. was my fervent supporter and confidant, especially during the highs and lows of navigating competing interests of researchers, university and industry. His advice was to stay calm, never give up and look ahead.

In 2004 Prof. was overjoyed when I told him of an offer for a faculty position in Singapore. He was overwhelmed when I informed him that I turned down the offer and was starting up a catalysis company. Since then he was my confidant, mentor and friend through successes, difficulties and setbacks. My UWI collaboration with Prof. since 2003 allowed me to share his passion for research and his dream of conducting pure and applied organometallic chemistry and catalysis research at UWI.

Prof.’s sudden and untimely passing was shocking to everyone and a blow to me personally. I lost a father figure, friend, confidant and colleague. The way forward and to continue his legacy is to approach life as Prof. lived - with vigor, energy, enthusiasm, passion, zeal, kindness, honesty, and laughter.

Dr. Kamaluddin Abdur-Rashid, founder president and chief technology officer of Kanata Chemical Technologies, Inc, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. E-mail: krashid@kamalpharmachem.com

In closing, to learn more about the legacy of Prof., please read the preface as written by Dr. Novelette Sadler-McKnight in the Special issue in honor of Tara Dasgupta at the URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/inorganica-chimica-acta/special-issue/108KQZQS36L where you will read about his tenacity in acquiring instrumentation from Mrs. Lorca Gatcliffe-Farah, CEO of Analogic Solutions (see photo 13) for providing analytical services to the region.

Photo 13.

Prof., Mrs. Lorca Gatcliffe-Farah, and me on November 27, 2018 at 1:30 p.m.

Conclusion

Many students want frequent constructive feedback on their work, and the lack of constructive feedback can lead students to doubt their capabilities. Mentorship is a catalyst capable of unleashing one’s potential for discovery, curiosity, and participation in STEM and subsequently improving the training environment in which that STEM potential is fostered. Mentoring relationships the way Prof. exuded his style provided developmental spaces in which our STEM skills were honed and pathways into STEM fields were discovered. All thanks to Prof.

Photo 9.

Prof. in conversation with Prof. Sean McDowell on November 29, 2018 at 4:55 p.m.

Photo 10.

From left to right, Prof.’s daughter, Shuvra, Prof. Robert Lancashire, Joy spence, Annacia Jeffers, me, Prof. Jamboor Vishwanatha, and Mrs. Vishwanatha on November 29, 2018 at 10:00 p.m.

The eloquent style of mentoring by Prof. Tara Prasad Dasgupta shaped many graduate students in Jamaica.

• A leader par excellence in Prof. Tara Prasad Dasgupta

• His intellect is planted at The UWI, Mona Campus

• The mentoring style by Prof. Dasgupta was every effective

• Unique advice for effective mentoring of underrepresented individuals