From streetcar student to devoted teacher

From her days as an undergraduate student and her career as a science teacher, to her enrollment in UB’s Mini-Medical School, Marilyn Fiegel has devoted her life to learning.
 
Fiegel was a “streetcar student” at UB:  she lived at home and took public transportation while, at times, holding down three jobs to pay for her education. Even with her hectic schedule, she completed her chemistry degree in only three-and-a-half years.  She was one of a handful of women in her department.
 
Fiegel’s undergraduate years left a lasting impression on her.  “I learned how to roll with the punches,” she says.  “I learned stick-to-it-tiveness and developed a lot of drive.”
 
Her drive led her to acquire a master’s degree in science education, with the hope of obtaining a teaching position when she graduated. It was the 1950s.  Most chemistry teachers were male and were expected to coach as well.  This made it difficult for a female to obtain a job as a science teacher, she remembers.
 
Her tenacity finally helped her land a position as a chemistry teacher at West Seneca (N.Y.) High School.   “When you teach chemistry, you teach good kids who want to learn—the cream of the crop.  It’s exciting to teach an evolving subject, in which you can start with the beginning of time and proceed to where we are today.  It’s not black and white.”  
 
The highlight of Dr. Fiegel’s early teaching career was the year she spent in Germany teaching children of U.S. military personnel.   Classified as second lieutenants, she and her cohorts had all privileges of officers.   “It was a wonderful experience,” she recalls.  “I met people from all over the USA.  In addition to teaching, I did a lot of traveling on troop trains for only a few dollars.”
 
Back in the States, Fiegel eventually became head of her school’s science department, and then district science coordinator.  After retirement she co-authored five high-school science textbooks.  But the learning and her connection to UB never ended. Fiegel says.  “I thought it was a good thing to help somebody and  decided to donate to the university with intention of helping female chemistry students since chemistry remains my first love.” She says, "If you’ve had a successful career and can afford to do it, put a bit of money aside in your name—in a scholarship or annuity. Make the university a part of your life.”
 
In 1970, Dr. Fiegel returned to UB to earn a doctorate in science education with an emphasis in biochemistry.  As part of her program, she had a summer fellowship at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, researching and testing various compounds on cancer cells in mice. She attends UB’s Distinguished Speakers Lecture Series and receptions.