Scientific Electronics - Lab equipment design, maintenance and repair

In Memoriam – Charles R. Eisnor

Charles Roland (Chuck) Eisnor passed away suddenly on September 10, 2006.  Mr. Eisnor grew up in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia and attended Acadia University, graduating with both a B.Sc. in Chemistry and a B.Ed. degree.  In 1976, he was appointed technician in the Chemistry Department with principal responsibility for the Organic Chemistry laboratories and for maintenance and construction of electronic instrumentation.  He remained in these responsibilities until his untimely death.

Chuck had a deep love of synthetic Chemistry and this was reflected in his interactions with faculty and students.  He combined this with an equal love for teaching.  Literally thousands of Acadia undergraduates have experienced his patient instruction in the finer details of laboratory practice in our labs and there was always a steady stream of undergraduates at his office door taking advantage of his well developed mentoring skills.  He was a good friend and advocate for students from all disciplines. 

His skills in electronics were also widely appreciated and he developed these into a small business, designing and building scientific instrumentation for people in the aquaculture and agricultural sectors as well as for colleagues at Acadia and other universities.  Always keen to communicate his professional interests outside the University, Chuck was a frequent volunteer as a judge at Science Fairs both locally and elsewhere in the province.  For many years, he was the editor of a newsletter, Acadian Letters, which was distributed to schools throughout the Atlantic Provinces and beyond.  This magazine outlined interesting topics and inexpensive but effective experiments that could be used in the public school system and, when contributions from others were lacking, Chuck would provide the needed additional material.  Chuck was a founding member of the Nova Scotia Chemist’s Society, the Province’s professional society for chemists, and was a member of its executive at the time of his death.

Chuck’s service in the community reflected his deep sense of compassion and love of animals.  He was active in the local animal rights group, WAAG, and provided a foster home for numerous homeless cats.  He developed a broad knowledge base for the care of cats and for treatment of their ailments and was widely consulted throughout the Valley.