A LITTLE DOSE OF MAGIC makes UM's Garon Smith an outstanding chemistry professor and researcher. In fact, Smith has an alter ego, G. Wiz, which stands for "Garon the Wizard." This conjurer — dressed in lordly gray robes and a pointy hat — is never far from Smith's heart. G. Wiz appears almost daily before Smith's 650 University chemistry students, and he volunteers in elementary classrooms across Montana. His mission: make learning
science fun.

Smith admits most students call him G. Wiz instead of professor, and his alter ego has made

him one of UM's most popular teachers. In 2004 students named him UM's Most Inspirational Teacher, and he won a national award for Innovative Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Technology.

His chemistry students are forestry, wildlife biology and health-care majors. "I want to train them to take care of the trees and wildlife I love in Montana," he says. "I also want them to take care of me and my family."

Has he had an impact? Smith says when he had surgery in 1999, eight of those who treated him were former students. He also picks research projects that directly affect

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people's lives, such as monitoring and cleaning Missoula's air, and developing less-toxic fuels like biodiesel.

Sound like magic? The real wizardry takes place in the classroom, where this master teacher uses chemistry to make solutions freeze by snapping his fingers or change color when he rubs the bottom of a flask. And G. Wiz regularly appears in Smith's elaborate PowerPoint presentations to explain terms such as chemical bonding and Brownian motion.

"I think the fun stuff lets the students relax and recharge," he says. "I know I have fun."