Dr. Jeffrey Ward

Science Instructor Jeffrey Ward never expected to become a chemistry teacher. “[In high school] I did not want to take chemistry,” Ward said. Then he and his parents reached a compromise: Ward would take one subject that he already enjoyed in addition to chemistry. “I took French willingly, and that was great. Under great protest, I also took chemistry and found that it made sense—it came naturally to me. I knew then that I loved chemistry.”

Ward enrolled as a chemistry major at the Southern Massachusetts University, now known as the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, before pursuing graduate and postgraduate degrees at Georgetown. It was there that he got his first taste of educating students. “[The university] asked me to teach an organic chemistry class at night,” he recalled. “I really enjoyed [the experience]. Connecting—not only presenting a subject that I loved, but connecting with students—that’s why I decided to go into teaching.”

Before transitioning to Exeter, Ward began his career in education at the Waterford School in Sandy, Utah. However, he moved back so that his family could be more connected to their relatives. “My wife's family lives in the Boston area, and we started to have children who never knew their grandparents,” he recalled. “I said, ‘Well, if I can find a job out East, we'll move back closer to our family.’ I’m here, and the rest is history.”

At the Academy, Ward teaches Principles of Chemistry, Advanced Chemistry and Organic Chemistry. “I love each of the chemistry classes that I teach for different reasons,” he said.    

Both former and current students of Ward appreciated his enthusiasm for the subject. “Not only was Dr. Ward extremely good at teaching the subject clearly, he also pushed us to ask questions and dig deeper into each topic,” said Megi Topalli ’18. “He makes difficult concepts easier to understand, and his passion for science is contagious.”

Though he did not consider himself a STEM student, alum Mike Hamman ’06 also enjoyed learning from Dr. Ward. “I was never really a math or science person, so I was doubtful that I would like [chemistry] or be any good at it,” he recalled. “Fortunately for me, I had Dr. Ward. He had, and I'm sure still has, an amazing ability to engage the students and encourage them to be genuinely excited by chemistry.”

Central to Ward’s pedagogy is levity in the learning environment. “For some people, chemistry can be extremely difficult and abstract. Unlike biology, computer science and physics, where you can see what you're doing, you can't see an atom. You can only look at the effects of an atom,” he said. “If I were to have a completely dry classroom where everyone is serious all the time, it wouldn't make [the subject] fun. Learning, to me, has to be fun.”

To keep the atmosphere light, Ward maintains a board of student quotes. “Sometimes, students say things in class that are a little bit odd or unusual...To inject levity into a class, we'll pause and write [what the students said] up on the board,” he said.

“If we can't laugh at each other, who can we laugh at?” Ward said.

Students cite Ward’s humor as one of the highlights of his instruction. “Dr. Ward really does a lot of unconventional things—he does the Fortnite dance, which is really hilarious—and he says these memes that his daughter tells him [about] that he doesn’t understand,” upper Sam Lew said.

This style of teaching has garnered Ward the respect of his peers. “Dr. Ward is a consummate professional,” fellow Science Instructor Albert Leger said. “He takes his job as an educator here seriously...He has also mentored many of our young chemistry teachers over the years. He devotes a lot of time to [the Academy] during the year, and then does it all again in the summertime [at Exeter Summer].”

Ward’s devotion to the summer program led to his appointment as Dean of Exeter Summer. To him, the summer program is a transformative one. “I know it sounds like a cliche, but it literally changes kids’ lives,” he said. One summer, faculty discovered a student letter that read: “These five weeks are worth more to me than the past sixteen years of my existence...It kills me to write this letter saying goodbye.” Ward printed out that letter and hung it on his Exeter Summer office as a constant reminder of the program’s impact to students. “We’re changing lives,” Ward said.

Elena Gosalvez-Blanco, the Director of Exeter Summer, admires Ward’s dedication to the Exeter Summer students. “During his many summers as dean in our program, he has shown great empathy for our summer students,” she said. “Over our six summer sessions working together, we have helped each other to solve many problems while focusing on all the positive experiences and growth the majority of our students experience.”

Ward’s advisees appreciate his steadfast commitment to them as well as his humility. “He will acknowledge things he doesn’t know but will work towards understanding [them]. Overall, he is a great advisor, and, because of that, I have enjoyed my time at Exeter,” senior and advisee Weldon Chan said.

Ward’s affability towards his students also extends to his colleagues. “Dr. Ward is a man who always offers you a genuine and frank smile. [He is] somebody who makes you feel listened [to] and valued,”  Instructor of Modern Languages Fermin Perez-Andreu said. “Since [I’ve known] him, he has been [trying] to learn some sentences in Spanish to greet me. His progress, I must say, is not up to the speed of my students, but I still think his effort is admirable.”

Outside his professional life at Exeter, Ward is an avid fan of music. “Music has been a big part of my life, and I want to expose as many people as possible to the music that I love,” he said. Currently, he hosts Dorm Radio, a show that runs on WPEA 90.5 FM on Mondays. “I think I'm the second longest-running show on [the station]. It's an hour where I'm not Dr. Ward. I'm not a teacher, I’m not an advisor—I'm just Jeff Ward.”

In addition to his passion for music, faith serves a critical role in Ward’s life. A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he lives by principles grounded in spirituality. Ward spent five years as a leader in his local congregation. “Religion is not something I do: it's something that I am,” he said.

Although Ward is a man of many interests, chemistry remains fundamental to his life. To this day, he continues to foster a passion for chemistry in young minds. “I love chemistry, and I love getting other people excited about chemistry,” he said. “I love teaching high school [students] because [they are] blank slates, trying to figure out what [they] want to be in life.”