Free food helped steer Annette Moser toward a career in chemistry.
The Blue Hill native attended the University of Nebraska at Kearney as a Board of Regents Scholarship recipient and Honors Program member, originally intending to study biology.
But an unexpected experience near the end of freshman year changed her direction.
A friend convinced Moser to attend a Chemistry Club meeting with the promise of pizza. Although she hadn’t taken a chemistry class, Moser was elected club secretary because there weren’t enough students willing to serve as officers.
“The adviser of the club ended up being my General Chemistry instructor, and she was adamant that I be a chemistry major,” Moser explained.
After initially resisting the idea, her interest grew as she took more classes in the field and learned about the financial support available to study chemistry in graduate school.
By junior year, she’d switched her major to chemistry. She also conducted undergraduate research at UNK and completed a summer internship in the chemistry department at the University of Kansas.
Those experiences helped solidify her career plans.
Moser enjoyed teaching – her mother attended Kearney State College before becoming a high school math teacher – and chemistry offered an opportunity to combine her interest in science with her passion for education.
She earned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from UNK in 2000, graduating summa cum laude, then completed a doctorate in analytical chemistry at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Moser returned to her alma mater as a faculty member in 2006, drawn to UNK’s combination of academic expertise and personal connections.
She currently serves as a chemistry professor and director of the UNK Honors Program, ensuring another generation of Lopers has the same opportunities that shaped her undergraduate experience.
“I loved my experience at UNK,” Moser said. “The environment was wonderful. I met my closest friends in the dorm and got to know my instructors on a more personal level.”
Why did you return to UNK to teach?
The semester after I defended my dissertation, I taught two lecture classes at UNL and realized that I missed getting to know my students. I also concluded that UNK is the perfect size – big enough to have experts in all the fields of chemistry and small enough that I would be able to get to know my students. When I started applying for full-time teaching positions, I limited my search to schools that were similar in size to UNK.
You’ve been director of the Honors Program since June 1. Tell us about that position:
I really enjoyed my time as an Honors student and felt that it helped me grow so much as a person. The idea that I could give back to our current students as director of the program seemed like a wonderful opportunity.
I think one of the biggest benefits of the Honors Program is its learning community and how well the students support each other. They also are encouraged to search out leadership roles and pursue opportunities that will help them in their future careers.
How has UNK changed (or stayed the same) since you were a student here?
At its heart, UNK has not changed. We have a wonderful group of faculty and staff who truly want the best for our students. I realize that people come and go, but overall, I think UNK’s commitment to its students has held steady over the years.
Share something unique about yourself:
I have three kids – Andrik, 13; Laiken, 11; and Annika, 9. My husband Doug and I live just outside of town where I have a large garden, chickens and a few cats.
