Good at instruction. Fair and helpful. But a very tough instructor.

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Head-Gordon writes very organized, neat notes on the board, and he explains everything clearly. He has a light Australian accent that's very comfortable to the ear. The accent bothers nobody. Don't worry. And he seems friendly.

Nice lectures. Relaxing class.

He is really good and knows his work really well. Although he does assume that you know a bit of chemistry before you take chem1a

really clear and easy to understand. just a little tougher. is sometimes funny too, in his own little way.

Nice lectures. Covers things that are not in the book, which is good, so I actually learn more.

Taught the difficult material very well...made it easier to understand. VERY organized and I learned alot from his lectures.

Cool Aussie accent, easily understandable. Friendly. VERY organized, clear lectures that are worth going to. And although the material can be tough, he teaches it well. And he's humorous. You will learn well in his class.

kind of a goober

The Jolly Aussie! Makes the corniest jokes you've ever heard, but that and his quirkiness kept me awake and interested in class. He tries to explain things very well, and has the neater handwriting than your first grade teacher.

He starts class eveyday with the same familiar tune and gets there before class starts to write amazingly neat notes on the board. He really knows his material and is genuinely fascinated by it. His accent doesn't hurt either. He is an amazing professor.

he was clear and honest. he was one of those good teachers that did what he could to aid his students through chem with ease. however, the class was very challenging. kubinec sucks.

good lecturer, corny jokes with aussie accent but better than none =), sometimes hard to understand but read the book and it'll be clear, first two midterms easy, but careful on the 3rd midterm and final...you might get shafted if you don't keep up.

Clear and thorough. He is intellectual mixed w/nerdy fun.

Difficult, but good

Very organized pre-written blackboards for lecture - makes note-taking MUCH easier, better to study from for the exams. Sometimes extraneous info is given, but the important topics are easy enough to pick out. Head-Gordon is friendly and approachable :)

very smart and explains well

Very intelligent teacher who doesn't "baby" you as much as kubinec. You are treated like an adult. Only downside to the class is the size, and the competitiveness that shouldn't exist. Advice: it's a freshman class, don't worry!

He's a good lecturer, and somewhat looks like Clark Kent from Smallville. I would have liked this guy more if he didn't spend the last week of lectures either away or talking about his work and going over material from the class, material which I didn't study due to this but was on the final.

He looks like Harry Potter-no joke. Fun class. Be sure to go to lecture the week before the big game (cool demos).

Yes, he does look some what like Harry Potter with a little cool British Accent (Although he's from Australia i think). To ppl in College of Chemistry, there's no need for u to look at this because u do not have a choice anyway. Yes he is an AWESOME professor (Theoratical Chemist also means math based). He is awesome also b/c comp to the other prof

Is really organized with his notes. Makes it easy to go over the notes afterwards since a lot of the material is hard to understand right away. At the beginning of chem4a, H-G goes over physical chem which will go over the heads of everyone but the tests don't really reflect the difficulty of the lectures. Is pretty reasonable with tests.

He's very organized with notes and fair with tests. You should definitely attend his lectures.

very, very organized and clear. he's all theory, so, he'll try to teach you thinks that will be out of your league, but bring it back down to words you can understand. great lecturer, but pretty difficult. make sure you study hard with this professor, tests aren't easy (but, then again, what chem test is?)

Excellent professor. Very organized, explains well and makes difficult material understandable. Tests were difficult but fair. Good class.

Great lecturer. Very clear and neat with his lectures, and very willing to help out if you need it. Difficult tests, but very fair in terms of grading.

He was extremely organized and his lecture notes made studying very easy. His midterms were tough but fair.

A great teacher, pedagogically sound and is has a remarkable way of getting one to understand complex material. Highly recommended for any class!

Professor Head-Gordon is always well prepared for every lecture. Although the material is very difficult and sometimes can be confusing, but he tries his best to make the class interesting. He knows QM really well and he cares about his students since he really wants people to learn the concepts but not to just memorize definitions. Great class!!!

Love himmmm. The class itself is really hard and and the subject matter is complex, but Head-Gordon's notes are clear and well-written and he's always willing to answer questions. He looks like Harry Potter, British accent and all, but he's a total BA at the same time. You'll be lucky if you get him as your chem 4a professor :D

Fun and approachable guy. A bit heavy on explanations and isn't the loudest speaker during office hours.

Very clear and concise, very willing to answer questions. Tests are difficult, but fair. He's a superstar in the chemistry world, so it's pretty cool to be in his class, even if you don't understand him all of the time. Loved his portion of chem 4, even if I didn't do too well.

Great lecturer- write everything on the board before class (surprisingly organized and good handwriting). Good at explaining if guided- be sure to ask questions in lecture if you don't get it though as he tends to gloss over some things without realizing. Class was rarely boring. Accent is amusing.

Fun Australian accent. Very clear lectures, extremely detailed notes on board, and very helpful during office hours. Didn't do very many demos, but those that were done were interesting. Tests were pretty hard - go to ALL office hours (his, your GSI's, and any extra "discussion" sections offered) and review VERY extensively (past midterms, etc.).

This guy is great at teaching quantum mechanics and does a pretty decent job of explaining a difficult concept. Yet, he's fair and helpful during office hours. Very smart character

I mean, there's just so much to cover and learn in Chem 4A that you know you're not doing as well as you wanted, but you cannot really blame/praise Head-Gordon. He certainly taught well with very clear explanations. If you do well in this class, it's b/c you studied your butt off, not b/c the prof. was amazing or an easy grader than the others.

He is an amazing lecturer! His notes are very clear and understandable if you take the time to go over them. Definitely go to lecture. You will learn a lot if you really enjoy chemistry. He is also super cute (amazing hair) and makes some really funny comments in class :)

Head Gordon is a really good lecturer. If you study off his notes and really understand his notes, you can expect a decent grade on midterms. He's really cute and funny. He's really smart and he does excellent in teaching quantum mechanics, the best part of Chem 4a in my opinion. Just remember to go to every lecture. It pays off!

Material was interesting, but challenging (it helped to read beforehand for comprehension). Really organized, great presentation (handwriting and cartoons), and accent! In-class quizzes were actually useful! Tests were difficult but fair. Really friendly during office hours. Best professor I've had!

His lecturing style is AMAZING cuz he writes everything on the board b4 you come in...and its colorful despite the fact that he's color blind (or so i heard). The class can be described as Gen Chem for grad students but if you get through it you learn so much. Do lots of practice and go to office hours like its your religion and you'll do fine.

Class notes and explanations are super clear and very helpful. Exams are fair but difficult.

Really knows the material and is fairly clear. Tests are difficult but not impossible (be prepared for a ~65% average). Read relevant materials but not the whole chapter (lecture covers virtually everything).

Outstanding guy, great lecturer - if only he could lecture on quantum mechanics, but we got him for macroscopic chemistry. Otherwise, his tests are rather hard so study up. He's a busy guy, so office hours are cancelled more often than not. That's probably the only drawback. But if you do additional reading, you should be fine.

Head-Gordon is a fantastic lecturer. His lectures are really well-organized and easy to follow (since he writes everything on the chalkboards, it's easy to refer back to, etc.). But if you want to do well, you should probably read the textbook and do all of the practice midterms, and all of the homework, because his exams are really difficult...

Had him for the second half of 4a. Very clear at lectures. He always had his lectures pre-written on the board and always made class fun. Also, he captivated student's attention through demonstrations and mini-quizzes.

Martin Head-Gordon is great lecturer. He clearly knows what he is talking about and will not hesitate to re-explain something if you don't understand it. His office hours are extremely helpful and if you attend his lectures you will learn a lot. The class is difficult but so is Chem 1A with any professor. If you can take it with Head-Gordon do it.

He's overall a very informative lecturer. Compared to other's teaching Chem 1A, he was much easier to understand, and generally his lectures made a lot of sense. That being said, his tests were literally death. One of the hardest courses I've ever taken.

I came into this class with only having taken HS chemistry. The class was really tough, but doable. Head-Gordon's lectures were great, there was a good mix of relevant problem solving techniques and theory. He was entertaining, and made the material approachable without dumbing it down. If you take Chem 1A with him, expect to work though.

Wonderfully brilliant man, but his tests are extremely difficult. Forget about multiple choice; try 9 pages of short response questions involving paragraph conceptual answers, computational problems, and diagram drawing. He loves quantum mechanics, as that is his field of research, so pay attention to it. The semester moves fast, so be ready!

Wonderfully brilliant man, but his tests are extremely difficult. Forget about multiple choice; try 9 pages of short response questions involving paragraph conceptual answers, computational problems, and diagram drawing. He loves quantum mech, as that is his field of research, so pay attention to it. The semester moves fast, so be ready!

Professor Head-Gordon is a really engaging lecturer who can truly inspire students. The exams were challenging but fair. Even though it is optional, I highly recommend regular attendance at lecture.

Professor Head-Gordon knows how to lecture and explains things clearly, but the only thing I hate the most is his tests, because it is hard. An A in his class is possible, but you need to beat the average by a good 1+ standard deviation. (Grading curve: 0.25-0.5 of SD, pulls you to a B)

Don't fall behind in this class, he's a fast-paced professor.

I had originally signed up for Martin for Chem 1A but he and Teresa switched sections. Really wish I would have had him permanently. He's a great lecturer, but that being said the tests are hell. Hardest class of my life.

MHG is a great lecturer, often very clear, coherent, and dynamic. He does like to emphasize derivations and calculations (as well as quantum mechanics) in lecture. His OH are well-attended and often useful. Exams are challenging, but I found them generally quite fair. He definitely reinvigorated my interest in chemistry.

Professor Head-Gorden is a wonderful teacher. His lecture is very organized and helpful. He is available both after class and at office hours. He has always been a CHEM 4 professor so he demands his student at 4A level, which is hard but not doable. Read books and do exercise and you will be fine. Nice chalk writing if Pimentel were not broken...

Although Chem 1A with MHG is indeed really difficult, but it is really doable. Just make sure you study hard for it. Lectures are really good and clear. You can really learn a lot with him.

MHG is a great professor, although he tends to lecture on more than is necessary for the midterms. His midterms are reasonable. Grading can be a LITTLE picky, but not unreasonably so. Super caring guy during office hours and great lecturer!

Good professor. His lectures are confusing and crammed, and his tests are hard and not necessarily related to the lecture slides. I recommend reading the textbook and solving a lot of past exams, that's how I got an A.

Went in with no chemistry experience (no AP or regular chem), walked away with an A-. Didn't do the long textbook readings, but went to every single lecture and joined an SLC study group, which basically has a student teacher reteach the material if you don't understand it the first time. Lectures are dense but he is always very enthusiastic.

MHG is by far my favorite professor at Berkeley. Got an A+ in 1A with no prior AP chem experience. His midterms are straight from his lectures (although he does include some extra material in lecture that isn't super relevant) and past exams. Super nice and accessible at office hours!

MHG was the first science professor I had, and the work ethic the class forced me to adopt has really stuck with me through the semesters. Yes, the class is hard. Yes, there's a lot of reading. But stick with it, and you'll be rewarded with interest.