On April 18, 2006, Carl T. Wittwer was a guest speaker at USU. (Carl was the the 2006 recIpient of the Department of Chemistry/Biochemistry’s Alumni Achievement Award.) In his talk he reminisced about the academic experiences that shaped his professional journey. Carl earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and a doctorate degree in biochemistry from USU. According to Insights (a publication of the College of Science):
“Wittwer surmises that he was probably the last doctoral student of the late Guarth Hansen, USU Distinguished Professor Emeritus and renowned biochemist. Wittwer remembers working industiously at the lab bench when Dr. Hansen stopped by and said, “Carl, you’re doing a great job but once a day you need to stop and think about your basic hypothesis and what your research is trying to tell you.”
Wittwer recalls that another valuable piece of Hansen’s advice was not to take things at face value. “He asked me, ‘Carl, why do you think the chemical in the bottle is what you say it is?’”
“Dr. Hansen taught me to ask more question,” says Wittwer. “And not to necessarily believe everything I read, saw, or heard.”"
