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Photo note: To download a photo of Sorrell, see end of story.

Organic chemist, musician, artist, rolled into one with UNC's Sorrell

CHAPEL HILL -- Possibly, many people to achieve the lofty status of professor of organic chemistry would consider that pinnacle enough.

Not Dr. Thomas Sorrell.

Not only does he teach University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill undergraduates one of the most challenging courses of the pre-medical curriculum, but he also plays violin in the UNC Symphony Orchestra and paints landscape watercolors. Now the latter pursuit has landed him in at least a corner of the limelight.

Sorrell's "White Rim, Green River," a scene from Canyonlands National Park in Utah, recently was chosen for an international exhibit organized by The National Park Academy of the Arts, a private agency based in Jackson, Wy. The academy raises money for and awareness of the parks, mainly through its annual Arts for the Parks competition.

Sorrell was floored when his entry this year was chosen as one of the competition's top 50 small-format paintings, which were exhibited in September at Jackson Lodge in Grand Teton National Park. Jackson, brimming with galleries, has become quite a hotspot for the visual arts.

"I'd never won anything like this, so for me, it was great," said Sorrell, who has won awards in academia. "I just love the national parks. I love the idea of them. To contribute something that ensures their future is very satisfying."

More information on the competition is at http://www.artsfortheparks.com. Click "Mini 50" to see the winning paintings, or go to http://www.artsfortheparks.com/2002m50/pages/sorrellwhite.html to see Sorrell's.

The idea of a scientist doubling as an artist is not so far-fetched as some might think, in Sorrell's view. Organic chemistry is more intuitive than many other areas of science, he said. It deals with the shapes and spatial arrangements of molecules and how they interact. To do well in the subject, students must learn to visualize things in three dimensions.

To help them out, Sorrell wrote a textbook, "Organic Chemistry" (University Science Books, 1999). It includes reprints of six of his paintings, each with a chemistry theme.

Sorrell, at Carolina for 25 years, has painted "on and off for about 20 years, seriously for the past five or so." He took courses in life drawing and painting in UNC's art department and attends a watercolor painting workshop each summer. He completes three or four paintings a year. Now, the success of his painting in competition "has gotten me interested in putting in a little more time."

Doing that may require even more skillful time management than Sorrell apparently practices now. His longtime pal Tonu Kalam, a UNC music professor who conducts the orchestra in which Sorrell plays, says the group practices from 7-9:30 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays and plays two concerts each semester.

Sorrell teaches "Introduction to Organic Chemistry I" to 120 students at 8 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. "Mondays and Wednesdays are long days," he said.

In 15 years of conducting the orchestra, Kalam has seen a fair number of medical professionals in the ranks, but few from the basic sciences. Undergraduates make up about 80 percent of the orchestra, but it's open to anyone by audition. Folks from fields other than music often participate, keeping alive their treasured music skills from childhood lessons or undergraduate majors. Some are alumni. Some, graduate students. One is a psychiatrist, and one, a chemist and artist.

"The fact that Tom's interests are so diverse that he can master painting as well as music makes it even more unusual," Kalam said. "And Tom is very dedicated when it comes to preparation. Not only does he practice his own part, but he gets a recording and listens to it many times to familiarize himself with the big picture."

Perhaps he does that in the car on the way to his weekly 45-minute violin lesson with Doris Powers of Chapel Hill, a private violin teacher, freelance musician and columnist for the Chapel Hill News.

"Tom asks a lot of very perceptive questions," Powers said. "He really thinks very deeply about his violin playing. He takes a very creative approach to technical issues that I don't often see." He's even figured out some solutions "that will save me a lot of teaching time," she said.

Sorrell downplays his skill, noting that he is "the last chair of second violins." He took lessons as a child but only began playing seriously again about three years ago.

"Playing in the orchestra helps me see what students are going through in my classes, how they struggle with new ideas and difficult material," Sorrell said. I think it's made me a better/more empathic teacher."

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Note: For more information about The National Park Academy of the Arts, visit http://www.tfaoi.com/newsasn/newsa12.htm

Photo URL: http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/faculty/sorrell_thomas.jpg

Contact: Dr. Thomas Sorrell, (919) 962-0289, sorrell@unc.edu

News Services Contact: L.J. Toler, (919) 962-8589, laura_toler@unc.edu