Roger E. Vasas - Becker College

Roger E. Vasas, M.S.

Assistant Professor of Natural Sciences
Division: Nursing and Health Sciences
Office Location: 12 Roxbury Street, Second floor
Phone: 508.373.9748
Email: roger.vasas@becker.edu

For over 35 years, Professor Roger Vasas has been passing his knowledge down to Becker College students as a professor of biology and anatomy and physiology.

Prior to joining Becker College, Vasas was an instructor of anatomy and physiology at the Hartford Hospital School of Nursing, conducting lectures and laboratories for anatomy and physiology, basic chemistry, and microbiology. From 1968 to 1970, he taught at Franklin Pierce College, where he also earned his bachelor’s degree in biological sciences. He earned a master of science in biological sciences from Anna Maria College in 1981, and completed other post- graduate work at the University of Hartford and the University of Massachusetts. He is the co-inventor of a biochemical fuel cell, patent number 3 811 950.

At Becker College, Vasas saw a learning opportunity when he noticed students consistently arriving 15 minutes early for his morning anatomy and physiology class. He created a PowerPoint slideshow of photos he had taken of students identifying muscles on dissected specimens, and he played it on the classroom’s flat screen monitor before class started.

The photos and soundtrack, including songs such as George Thorogood’s “Bad to the Bone,” caught the nursing and exercise science students’ attention. They began calling out the names of the muscles in the photos and even recognized their own specimens. Some students requested that the PowerPoints be posted to the Angel online academic platform, for further reference.

Capitalizing on his success, Vasas created a second slideshow and is currently working on his third. “You have to look for every opportunity to engage students,” he says.