Kevin Welch
banner
kwelchem.bsky.social
Kevin Welch
@kwelchem.bsky.social
Inorganic/organometallic chemist turned teacher. Associate Professor, General Faculty at the University of Virginia.
The position is part of the Academic General Faculty at UVA and is a non-tenure track with a rank of assistant professor with the opportunity for promotion with an initial 3-year term.

If you have any questions reach out to the search chair (that's me!) here or by email (in the link above).
October 25, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Yeah, I'm glad nobody was hurt and happy that the school put caution first, but I'm super exhausted for seemingly very little reason.
February 26, 2025 at 2:27 AM
And I found out doing nothing for most of four hours can be exhausting.

It was not the way I wanted to spend my Tuesday, but everyone handled the situation as well as could be imagined, given the situation.

Here's hoping Wednesday is less noteworthy.
February 26, 2025 at 2:15 AM
But, gloriously, the students didn't get to watch all of the movie, as after four and a half hours the order was lifted.

There was much rejoicing.

We were all hungry. Everyone was a little on edge.
February 26, 2025 at 2:11 AM
By the time the second movie started, there were double the number of students in the room, probably around 300 or so.

The students and TAs for the lab courses, who were sheltering in the storage areas for the labs, had moved to the auditorium as well.
February 26, 2025 at 2:10 AM
After Tangled, the students chose another movie. It was a very tight vote between The Incredibles and Pirates of the Caribbean... Pirates squeaked out a victory.
February 26, 2025 at 2:05 AM
One student near me knew every single line from the movie. Not just the songs, but every single line.

We watched Tangled and passed the time. Every update alert that came in had every student's attention but there was no change. Just continue to shelter in place.
February 26, 2025 at 2:04 AM
About half an hour after I was done teaching a student suggested we watch a movie.

I put it up to the students. They wanted to.

I let them pick any movie on Disney Plus (because I knew the password for Disney Plus) and they voted for Tangled.
February 26, 2025 at 2:02 AM
I checked to make sure the room was completely secure. All the doors were locked.

We waited.

Students texted. They did their homework. They played games on their phones and computers.
February 26, 2025 at 1:58 AM
Classes ended and we were still sheltering in place. The classroom I was in – the Chemistry Building auditorium – had no windows.

A student came to me concerned about the doors to the outside. Could someone get in?
February 26, 2025 at 1:55 AM
At around 10:20 we got the alert that classes were cancelled. I had 25 minutes left in class. I told the students they didn't have to listen anymore but I would still teach.

I also told they didn't have to listen ever in class so that wasn't really a change in the situation.
February 26, 2025 at 1:53 AM
The students and I laughed at the message that said "Suspect on foot last seen off Grounds [campus] near Alderman Rd and McCormick Rd."

The intersection of Alderman and McCormick is right smack dab in the middle of campus.
February 26, 2025 at 1:51 AM
I told my students that if new information came up, let me know. Some of my colleagues were texting me.

We got updates about the suspect involved. At first they were 6'4". Later they shrunk to 6'1".
February 26, 2025 at 1:47 AM
So I started my lecture on frontier molecular orbital theory.

As lectures go it was pretty terrible. I was distracted. Alerts came up on phones, computers, and in the classroom every 10 minutes or so.
February 26, 2025 at 1:45 AM
Probably around a little over 100 out of 339 of the students in my class were in the room at this point.

I told them we were stuck in the room together, so I was going to teach them chemistry.
February 26, 2025 at 1:42 AM
Lockdown over. Alas, the students didn't get to finish Pirates of the Caribbean.
February 25, 2025 at 6:59 PM
It was my students' idea. I held class first (9:30-10:45).
February 25, 2025 at 6:25 PM
It was the students' idea to be fair. I'd probably still be talking chemistry.
February 25, 2025 at 6:24 PM