Faculty of the Week: Chris Matlack

By ISHAAN SINGH, ALLEGRA LAI, CHLOE LIND, and MARVIN SHIM 

Christopher Matlack has served as a biology instructor and former department chair of the Science Department since 1984. During his long and illustrious career, he has taught biology, ecology, and ornithology, and serves as a coach for the boys’ junior varsity hockey team. Matlack has enjoyed organizing and participating in educational outreach in Ghana, Chile, India, and Canada. He enjoys bird-watching as a hobby. Matlack is respected and admired by faculty and students alike, having proven his dedication to biology and the enlightenment of his students in his long tenure at Exeter. 

“I have had many epiphanies because of the genius of Mr. Matlack,” upper Aveen Burney said. “He really plans everything out and I will carry his lessons, tips, and jokes with me forever. He is one for the quote book. I am now a fervent birder and tree lover because of him and we often joke about what’s happened to me.”

“He cares about the quality of his teaching, his coaching, and his relationships with colleagues and students, but he doesn’t take himself too seriously. That Matlack sense of humor is rightly famous,” Instructor in Science Townley Chisholm, Matlack’s teaching colleague for thirty years, described. 

Instructor in Science Summer Morrill recounted a funny memory from last year’s Faculy Follies. “He just comes over to my classroom and asks me how to film a video,” she said. “We just sat for a whole afternoon, thinking about how you would do this Faculty Follies video, and he had a silly little flamingo hat. And I had to teach him how to screen-record with something behind him. He pointed to a map of where the birds are migrating, but he couldn’t figure out which direction and we just had so much fun. The fact that he spent a whole afternoon—maybe multiple afternoons—figuring out how to do this for the faculty and kids says a lot.”

Upper Ava Helbig explained, “He likes to tell stories and it makes him very relatable and gives us a good laugh. Personally he’s one of my favorite teachers because he wants to connect with students. In my experience, when he tells stories, it’s heartwarming, because he’s lived a fulfilling life and he’s not afraid to share his experiences.” 

“The most enjoyable part of Exeter is the discussions I have with students around the Harkness table,” Matlack said. “There is no question about it.”

“He has this half-hockey stick that he uses for various stuff and was constantly making jokes with another hockey athlete about the hockey stick and trying to get everyone to understand them. I just thought it was funny and cool how he would try to lighten up the class,” prep Ryan Wang said. 

Prep Griffin Breault added, “He just gives off an air of positivity. He’s always smiling. He is always very kind, but he’s also a good teacher.”

“He makes it easy for the students to ask questions,” prep Artur Ferreira said. “A student can get to know him very easily; he makes jokes once in a while to make sure the class is in a comfortable environment.”

Helbig fondly recounted a memory with Matlack during her lower winter class. “In class he was trying to teach us about proteins and he was like, ‘what do I not have?’ because he was talking about keratin. And then Xavier, who was sitting across from me, said ‘hair.’ And then everyone started laughing because Mr. Matlack is bald.” 

Instructor in Science Tatiana Waterman, who volunteered to chauffeur ornithology field trips during Covid for Matlack’s course, reflected on his presence both as an instructor and as a person. “It was a great professional development experience for me, not just because I learned all kinds of things about birds and ecology—which I could not learn from a book—but more importantly, I could watch Mr. Matlack teach the ‘whole student’ with caring and wisdom, at a time when we all were scared and unsettled.” 

Senior Teddy Capozzi also shared his memory from the ecology course with Matlack, which captures Matlack’s enthusiasm for the subject. “Mr. Matlack is an early riser,” Capozzi said. “During a 6:30 a.m. ecology field trip, everyone getting on the bus had bloodshot eyes and was not very happy to be there, but Mr. Matlack was sitting up in the front, saying, ‘Isn’t this the greatest?’” 

Matlack expounded upon his incredible passion for bird-watching. “It’s all the birds I had seen in Africa,” he said. “I’ve gone to Costa Rica seven times and I’ve gone to the Amazon once. When you are in the jungles, there’s just so many birds and I want to know their names. I’ve always been interested in animals from an early age as a kid. I was always going to be in biology, and I ended up majoring in wildlife management and biology.”

Capozzi continued, “He is probably more passionate than most teachers you will find. From what he tells us, his life and interests in and outside of class are essentially one. In our ecology class, he could give so much information about a seemingly random location. He would tell us about the history of certain areas by looking at overgrowth or undergrowth, examining various tree species, looking for signs of animal, et cetera. His deduction skills are quite good and something his students should be able to bring into other classes or facets of life outside of school.”

“I met him at the beginning of winter term, as my BIO220 teacher here,” Prep Owen Cosgrove said. “He’s very open. He doubles down, makes sure we know every little part of every little thing. He has an environment where anyone can ask any question and we can discuss until we’re all confident.”

“When I went to Mr. Matlack to ask about my lab report, I felt that he was really willing to listen to what I was confused about, and genuinely wanted to help me understand,” Wang said. “We talked for a long time, but he wasn’t even paying attention to the clock. He was just really focused on explaining the material.”

Similarly, former Instructor in Science Rich Aaronian had nothing but positive remarks about Matlack. “I don’t know anyone that puts in as much time with students and helps them along,” he said. “Someone asked him to teach an extra course or be on a committee, and even though he was loaded, he never said no. That’s really admirable.”

Chisholm continued, “He doesn’t take shortcuts; he cares about challenging his students and about teaching them how to study effectively and to love and appreciate the natural world.”

“He cares about his students in the classroom, in advising, in the dorm, and on the ice-rink or the baseball diamond. When he was doing dorm duty in Bancroft, we were all jealous of how popular he was. At about 10 p.m. he would drink a soda to stay wide awake; he sacrificed his health to do his duty to his best and to the last minute,” Waterman added.

Breault reflected on Matlack’s special presence at PEA. “Matlack is a staple of the Exeter community,” he said. “I had Mr. Trafton for Spanish in the winter, and he was just giving all these anecdotes about him and Mr. Matlack.”

Instructor in Science Anne Rankin, who herself had Matlack as a teacher, commented, “I guess the words that come to mind iin no particular order would be dedicated and genuine. What I mean by that is I think he’s the kind of person who does the right thing. Even when no one is watching and will ever know.” 

“Chris is a great role model for younger teachers as he was for me back in the day,” Instructor in Science A. J. Cosgrove said. “He is fully committed to his students and doing the full job that is required of teachers living in a residential community.  He is a hard worker who never complains for a simple reason—he loves what he is doing.”

When asked about Matlack’s legacy, Aaronian said, “I just think of the friendships he’s made with adults and students, and the courses that he’s invested in ecology class. He taught AP Bio that I never taught, so he could teach a whole variety of different levels. I think it’s just really playing a role in important search committees, and having the trust of colleagues in the science department.”

“He has been a father figure to countless Exonians,” Waterman said. “He takes care of every responsibility on his schedule, no matter how hard he has to work, and how long the hours will be. He gives up his time to anyone and any matter that needs attention. And he is very forgiving and understanding when others cannot accomplish as much.” 

“He is deeply honest, and he cares about the common good,” Chisholm said. “Mr. Matlack is all about service: service to the school, service to the science department, and, above all, service to his students.”

Alumna Sami Smith ‘23 shared, “He is just a true light on campus, and the amazing thing about him is that once you meet him and see that light, that light and joy will be with you for the rest of your life.”