'An inspiration': Longtime UNC chemistry professor, Paul Kropp, passes away at 84
Paul Kropp representing his Alma Mater, Notre Dame, at the Swearing-In Ceremony of former chancellor Carol Folt in 2013. Photo courtesy of Sonia Thomas.
Paul Kropp's life was defined by the things he loved most: his students, his family, his faith and his dedication to exercise. He worked out so frequently that a colleague joked he could set his watch by watching Kropp walk down the hall to the Student Recreation Center, or Woollen Gym before that.
The longtime professor emeritus of the chemistry department died on June 5, 2020, at 84 years old. He was married to his wife Patricia, or Pat, for over 50 years, before she died in 2014.
His daughter Sonia Thomas said Kropp impacted countless students as a teacher of organic chemistry and formed lifelong friendships with several UNC students he mentored over the years.
Thomas said that her father, known as Skip to his friends, was so well-known and respected that she recalls the many times the two of them bumped into his former students during trips to UNC Hospitals.
"Every single time he had to go to the emergency room or stay in the hospital or something, the M.D.s taking care of him were always his former (students)," Thomas said. "They'd do their M.D. stuff (and) then say, 'Dr. Kropp, you might not recognize me because it was a zillion years ago, but you were my professor and it's an honor to treat you.'"
Born in Springfield, Ohio, in 1935, Kropp attended the University of Notre Dame as an undergraduate, earning a degree in chemistry. He went on to earn his Ph.D. in organic chemistry as a National Science Foundation Fellow first at the University of Wisconsin and then at Stanford. He joined UNC as a professor in 1970 after being recruited away from his job at Procter & Gamble as a research chemist.
Paul Kropp teaching a class in 1970, his first year as a professor at UNC.
Photo courtesy of Sonia Thomas
During Kropp's 46-year career as a professor — which ended when he retired in 2016 at 80 years old — he received numerous awards, including the Tanner Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, the Johnston Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Edward Kidder Graham Outstanding Faculty Award.
"The last few years of his career he was back to teaching freshmen chemistry, which of course he could have done in his sleep," former student Dr. David Kohl said. "It was because he wanted to be a teacher that he still persisted as long as he did."
His true skill as a teacher was apparent in the way he interacted with students. UNC alumnus Lee Bollinger said, thoughtfully and meticulously, Kropp always took the time to meet with his students in small groups after class or stop whatever he was doing to talk with someone he knew as he walked across campus, no matter how late it made him.
"He was an advocate for students and for his colleagues and he was someone who had a great deal of compassion and carefulness in the way he interacted with other people," said Holden Thorp, a former UNC chancellor and Kropp's colleague in the chemistry department.
Kropp would often take a moment before the start of each class to allow students to pray, meditate or otherwise center themselves before focusing on organic chemistry.
"In a world where a lot of people are trying to do too many things too fast, it's good to have people like Paul Kropp waving their arms and telling you to slow down and think about everybody who's impacted by the actions that might be under discussion," Thorp said.
Within the chemistry department, Kropp was known as a great teacher and a mentor to fellow faculty members, as well as a lighthearted man with a unique sense of humor. For the past 20 years, he cared for a lemon tree he brought into Kenan Labs named Penelope, which is now taken care of by his office neighbor, professor Todd Austell.
During Halloween, Kropp would dress up as Francis Preston Venable, a UNC chemist from the turn of the century who served as UNC's president from 1900 to 1914, and for whom Venable Hall on UNC's campus is named after.
"He would dress up as Venable and walk around on Franklin Street with a faculty gown on and some funky little paper hat that he made," Thomas said. "He'd walk around in a weird accent like, 'Hello, I'm Professor Venable!'"
Kropp also made it a point to dress up in full faculty gown and cap on University Day, when professors march in a procession to Memorial Hall. When he was still able to participate, he was joined by his daughter, a former professor of the practice of biostatistics at UNC.
Outside of the classroom, Kropp was a devout Catholic who regularly attended mass at the Newman Center.
"Paul’s presence in the Newman Center parish, along with that of his late wife Pat, was an inspiration from the time of their arrival in Chapel Hill," said longtime friend and fellow churchgoer George Lensing, a professor emeritus of the UNC Department of English and Comparative Literature, in an email statement.
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Kropp made it a point to attend the 7 p.m. services on Sundays, held late in the evening to accommodate students. Despite the presence of St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Chapel Hill, Kropp preferred to be with the students at Chapel Hill.
"He just enjoyed being in their presence as a fellow believer, and, as a highly respected chemistry teacher, he was warmly received there by them," Lensing said.
Kropp became lifelong friends with several students after repeatedly encountering them working out at the SRC or Woollen Gym. A lover of physical exercise, Kropp played handball, tennis, lifted weights, bicycled, backpacked, swam and boxed with students who had taken his classes. He was even one of the original founders of the UNC Boxing Club, which evolved from informal workouts and lessons in 2002 to an officially recognized student organization in 2004.
Paul Kropp working out in the Student Recreation Center.
Photo courtesy of Sonia Thomas.
It was on the handball court where he grew close with Kohl, one of his earliest students, now a cardiologist in St. Petersburg, Florida. A conversation at a Chi Psi student-faculty cocktail turned into playing handball twice a week for Kohl's entire undergraduate career.
"Paul wasn't the most gifted athlete in the world, but he was certainly diligent," Kohl said. "He liked to have meaningful exercise every day."
Kropp found a similar bond with many students over athletics, including Bollinger, who majored in journalism and political science and never took Kropp's classes, and Tomas Navratil, who called Kropp "Brácha," a Czech colloquial term for brother. They said to Kropp's former students, he was like a second father, present at weddings, birthdays and other major events.
Due to the coronavirus, only his immediate family was allowed to be near him in his final days, but Kohl, Bollinger and Navratil all said their goodbyes remotely before Kropp's death. Navratil shared his final text that he sent his mentor after speaking with him on the phone days before his death.
My Brácha, it was so good to hear your voice. I love you very much, it has been such a privilege to have you as a friend. I am very grateful for all you have taught me. I would be a lesser person without you. You have changed the lives of so many of your former students and friends. It has been an honor to get to know Pat and your family. You must be very proud of Sonia and David (his daughter and son). My family sends their love. We all love you very much Skip.
Your Brácha Tomas.
Paul "Skip" Kropp is survived by his daughter Sonia Thomas, son David Kropp, sister-in-law Barbara Morrissey, brother-in-law Tim Morrissey, sister-in-law Sharon Morrissey and grandchildren Logan, Claire, Maia, Dylan and Tyler.
