“My favorite thing to do is to be in the classroom with students and to do this work. That’s the best part of the job by a long shot. It’s where we can kindle passion for the work, for wanting to know.”

“You know when you draw yourself in the future in first grade?,” says Science Department Head Neil Chaudhary ’05. “I drew myself in the lab coat looking into a telescope. Now I know that people looking into telescopes rarely need the lab coat to do so.”  Sartorial details aside, Neil’s childhood prediction confirms his assertion that he has been interested in science “forever.” 

The story of how Neil got into teaching can be told in two parts, he says. First, he became an assistant in the writing program while doing his undergraduate work at Bowdoin College, which he loved. He took courses in education and teaching writing. During his time at Bowdoin, Neil reports that he was also the recipient of assistance from the writing program. “My assistant’s name was Kelsey. Kelsey, if you are out there, thank you! You had a big impact on me and helped me to write a little less purple prose back in the day.”

The second thread of the story came after graduation. It was a conversation with his dad that got him thinking about a possible career in teaching. “My dad asked me, ‘What do you really like to do?’ I told him ‘Frankly, one of my favorite things that I’ve done (in college) is just talk about science. . . and to occasionally share something with someone that changes how they see the world for the better. My dad said, ‘Neil, that is a job. It’s called a science teacher.’”

However, it was another of Neil’s interests that ultimately brought him back to Loomis Chaffee: theater. Neil performed in several NEO productions while he was a student here, even performing alongside “the three-time Emmy-nominated Betty Gilpin” in Hamlet. “Did I mention I shared the stage with Betty Gilpin?” he joked. Neil got in touch with former theater director and English teacher Brian Kosanovich to see if there might be opportunities for him in the English Department due to his experience as a writing teacher. Instead, Neil wound up back in the NEO as an assistant theater director. This is when Neil started to “insinuate” — his word — himself into the Science Department. When a position in that department opened up, he applied and got the job.  

Neil took a short hiatus from Loomis, during which he taught abroad in Vietnam and did some tutoring. Still, he found that he missed the experience of teaching science in the classroom. He returned to the Island in 2014 and later became head of the Science Department.

When asked what classes he enjoys teaching the most, Neil responded that he couldn’t name favorites. “I would hate for my chemistry students to hear that biology is my favorite, or my biology students to learn that I love teaching physics the most. Frankly, my favorite thing to do is to be in the classroom with students and to do this work. That’s the best part of the job by a long shot. It’s where we can kindle passion for the work, for wanting to know.”