Joseph S. Schmuckler

Joseph S. Schmuckler, 84, a professor of chemistry and science education at Temple University who forged strong ties with Chinese educators and students in the 1970s, died on Dec. 26, 2011.

Schmuckler earned a B.S. in 1952, an M.S. in 1954, and a Ph.D. in chemistry and science education in 1968, under Frederick Gruber and Alan MacDiarmid, all at the University of ­Pennsylvania.

He worked as a chemistry teacher at Haverford Senior High School, in Haverford, Pa., for 15 years before becoming an instructor in science education at Penn from 1964 until 1967.

Schmuckler joined Temple’s faculty in 1968, teaching courses in science and science education. He created numerous chemistry programs and coauthored several chemistry laboratory books and publications based on his science education research.

For three decades, Schmuckler collaborated with Chinese educators and graduate students, helping Temple become one of the first U.S. institutions to enter China in the late 1970s. He directed a faculty-graduate student exchange program and also offered workshops and published a comprehensive research and reference textbook for chemistry teachers in China.

Schmuckler joined ACS in 1955, receiving service awards from the Philadelphia Section in 1967 and 1993, and the James Bryant Conant Award in High School Chemistry Teaching in 1969. He also received the Manufacturing Chemists Association (now the American Chemistry Council) Medal, the George Washington Carver Award, the University of Pennsylvania’s Distinguished Alumni Award, and Temple’s Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching, as well as its Great Teacher Award.

He is survived by his wife, Shirley; sons, Elliott and Louis; daughters, Helene Class and Marjorie Labadie; and nine grandchildren.