"I try to instill confidence in my students that they can do whatever they want -- to show them they can even do things they thought they couldn't -- because that's what mentors did for me," said Warner, who holds the Boyd Professor and Philip W. West Professor chairs in chemistry at Louisiana State University. He is also vice chancellor for its Office of Strategic Initiatives.
The man who describes himself today as "a tough taskmaster" is equally candid about his own beginnings. Growing up in a small, rural town in Louisiana, Warner was the first in his family to graduate not only from college but even from high school.
"I was very naive in those days," he remembered. When the chairman of his university chemistry department suggested he consider getting a Ph.D., Warner asked him what a Ph.D. was, he said.
Now, emphasizing writing and speaking as well as research skills, Warner propels and challenges his students to participate actively in his laboratory. Projects range from studying how plaques form in arteries to developing finely tuned starting materials for analyzing pharmaceutical drugs.
Contrary to many researchers of his caliber, wrote one of his former students to support his award nomination, Warner "has opened his laboratory to countless high school, college and bachelor's level students, in hope that a 'hands-on' experience would inspire them to continue formal studies in science. He has even been known to forego part of his summer salary to support interested students in the laboratory!"
Warner received his undergraduate degree from Southern University in 1968 and his Ph.D. from the University of Washington in 1977. He is a member of the ACS division of analytical chemistry, and he is also the recipient of numerous other honors, including a presidential mentoring award under President Bill Clinton.
The ACS Award for Encouraging Disadvantaged Students into Careers in the Chemical Sciences is sponsored by the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Inc.