John Stahl, PhD began his journey at Geneva in 1975 as a student. This year, 2023, was his last year with Geneva in an official capacity as he retires from a 38-year teaching career at the College.
Stahl’s journey to the chemistry field began at a young age.
“When I was eight years old my aunt Martha gave me two science books and I loved them. That got me started thinking in that direction, and it was affirmed later in high school as I did well in science courses. Loving chemistry courses at Geneva just unfolded the wonder of it for me. In Colossians 1 it talks about how in Him all things hold together- we apply it to the created universe, atoms, and molecules.”
As a student, a love for chemistry is not the only thing Stahl discovered.
“God has worked in powerful ways when I first came here as a student. When I came to Geneva I responded to the Gospel. I realized my love for Jesus and my love for chemistry at the same time. I also met the woman who became my wife.”
Stahl’s time as a student here was transformational in many ways as he developed a love for chemistry, Christ, and his future wife. After graduating, he went on to get married and complete his PhD in Analytical Chemistry. His first teaching position was at Bloomsburg University where he taught for two years, then in 1985, applied at Geneva when a previous chemistry professor retired.
When he was in graduate school, he was open-minded to career options, but did not feel called to research. He applied to a variety of teaching and industry jobs.
“I interviewed for an industry position and being on-site made the dramatic distinction for me that I felt called to work with students.”
While the list of classes he taught is long, Stahl’s focus has been largely in the junior and senior-level classes in the areas of physical and analytical chemistry. Additionally, Stahl helped develop Geneva’s course in polymer chemistry, freshman labs, and senior chemistry projects. Stahl’s contributions even extend to the engineering department, where he taught chemical engineering and oversaw some senior engineering design projects.
Stahl has been involved in a number of projects, changes, and the lives of students during his many years here, but he lists two projects as some of the most influential.
“In 2002 I became the department chair of the department, and at the time our building was in need of a lot of repairs and renovation. I played a large role in this project. I got students together, moved stuff, crawled under benches, unbolted sinks, and a variety of other projects to get what needed to be done completed.”
This project finished the next year, in 2003.
“This work, interacting with architects, and still teaching a full load of classes was a major way God put me in a place to get it done.”
In addition to this project, another large change Stahl played a lead role in was the development of the current core science class, SCS 110.
“I became the coordinator of the SCS 110 course development and wrote much of the course in 1991. I revised it, and continue to update it, bringing it to the place it is now.”
SCS 110 is a required course for all Geneva students, so even students who have not had Stahl for a class has been impacted by his work and teaching.
The biggest thing Stahl has learned throughout his career at Geneva has been about leadership.
“Here I have learned about a certain form of leadership, servant leadership. I am naturally more of a doer than a delegator, but as a department chair, I have learned how to come alongside colleagues who are having a hard time with something, help mediate, have hard conversations, and grow. This growth in servant leadership has been a blessing.”
As Stahl reflected on his time here, part of the biggest impact, and thing Geneva does best, is community.
“Geneva is unlike any other community I have been a part of. It is not that we do not have issues, but we solve them. We pray together. There is a high level of congeniality. Geneva has a much stronger mission than other places.
During these 38 years, I have worked for six presidents, and I think we have continued to grow and mature in our Christian mission. President Troup is doing a tremendous job pushing this mission forward.”
To honor Dr. Stah’s distinguished career and years of service to the College, he has been given the status of emeritus faculty.
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