Overall, I think Dr. Gellman is a good lecturer. Somewhat fast-paced and you can sometimes get lost in certain parts, but I think that's a general OChem problem. Lectures are recorded though. Grade is basically all exams, with some points for discussion attendance & disc. quiz completion. Can be a tough grader in terms of getting partial credit.Rate My Professors ↗
Current instructor
Samuel Gellman
What students say
Original student reviews · all captured dates
Prof Gellman is a genuine and caring professor with much love for the subject. His exams seemed to be easier than the other orgo profs and we also only had our quizzes graded for completion, not correctness. He does assign a lot of homework. If you skip the integrated problems it's more a more manageable load but still enough to learn the stuff.Rate My Professors ↗
OMG, I'm so happy I got him. Gellman is available outside of class and has review sessions weekly. He makes dad jokes and writes his lectures by hand. Very easy to talk to and makes sure you understand when you ask questions. Very accommodating. Regardless of who teaches o-chem it's going to be a hard course and requires time and practice.Rate My Professors ↗
Professor Gellman is the best OChem professor. He is such a nice man and cares about his students doing well in the course. He is super helpful during office hours and responds to emails very fast. His class is lecture heavy, but if you go to lectures and do the homework problems that he recommends, then you will do well in the class.Rate My Professors ↗
awfulawfulawful.............Rate My Professors ↗
He is very smart in chemistry, and lectures very well. There are 4 exams and that is it for the grade in your class. So make sure to study hard for the exams, it is the only shot you have in passing the course.Rate My Professors ↗
Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.
Classes with Samuel Gellman
Directed Study
1–4 creditsCHEM 299 is a directed study course involving a mentored research project arranged with a faculty member.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2022–Spring 2022 · limited sampleSenior Honors Thesis
2–4 creditsCHEM 681 is a mentored research course for students completing a thesis in an Honors program.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
No recorded grade history
Senior Thesis
2–6 creditsCHEM 691 is a senior thesis course involving mentored research for students completing their senior thesis.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
No recorded grade history
Senior Thesis
2–6 creditsCHEM 692 is a mentored research course for students completing a senior thesis.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
No recorded grade history
Directed Study
1–6 creditsCHEM 699 is a directed study course involving an advanced mentored research project arranged with a faculty member.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2022: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=4 letter grades); Fall 2024: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=6 letter grades); Fall 2025: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=6 letter grades).
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2022–Spring 2026CHEM 980 is a graduate-level seminar where students engage in research discussions facilitated by faculty within their research group.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Research
1–15 creditsCHEM 990 is a research course where students conduct supervised research projects with individual faculty members.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
No recorded grade history
Recorded teaching history
Explore courses taught by this instructor →Browse recorded courses
Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.
Instructor identity & provenance
{
"instructor_uid": "instructor_a9520310fac767454bdc0b97",
"source": "enrollment",
"source_instructor_id": "sgellman",
"identity_basis": "netid",
"identity_status": "source_identified",
"name": "Samuel Gellman",
"email": "GELLMAN@CHEM.WISC.EDU",
"first_observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
"last_observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
"ratings": {
"review_count": 12,
"quality": 4.08,
"difficulty": 3.67,
"quality_count": 12,
"difficulty_count": 12,
"profile_id": "rmp:2481339",
"source_url": "https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/2481339",
"match_basis": "exact_name",
"observed_at": "2026-09-07 16:07:37.220267+00:00",
"courses": {
"course_34903ee31ae592cff4822461": {
"review_count": 8,
"quality": 3.75,
"difficulty": 3.62,
"quality_count": 8,
"difficulty_count": 8
},
"course_daf4a0053696c0e96c07064d": {
"review_count": 3,
"quality": 4.67,
"difficulty": 3.67,
"quality_count": 3,
"difficulty_count": 3
}
},
"bayesian_quality": 3.8173036147166224,
"prior_mean": 3.6596857835465957,
"prior_weight": 20
},
"current": true,
"courses": [
{
"course_uid": "course_2913394fa17f744c9ca18d4b",
"course_id": "CHEM 980",
"title": "SEMINAR: REVIEW OF CURRENT RESEARCH",
"credits_min": 1,
"credits_max": 1,
"gpa": 3.992
},
{
"course_uid": "course_4a49f7e5e0f126c4d0a2ad0b",
"course_id": "CHEM 299",
"title": "DIRECTED STUDY",
"credits_min": 1,
"credits_max": 4,
"gpa": 3.945
},
{
"course_uid": "course_8f0902f34b8223d183c9bbff",
"course_id": "CHEM 692",
"title": "SENIOR THESIS",
"credits_min": 2,
"credits_max": 6,
"gpa": null
},
{
"course_uid": "course_b3d52f1bb0698e502fda7d1c",
"course_id": "CHEM 691",
"title": "SENIOR THESIS",
"credits_min": 2,
"credits_max": 6,
"gpa": null
},
{
"course_uid": "course_bb4dd399ae999f41d21aab05",
"course_id": "CHEM 681",
"title": "SENIOR HONORS THESIS",
"credits_min": 2,
"credits_max": 4,
"gpa": null
},
{
"course_uid": "course_c2f22eab79dc18953ecf833e",
"course_id": "CHEM 990",
"title": "RESEARCH",
"credits_min": 1,
"credits_max": 15,
"gpa": null
},
{
"course_uid": "course_fc7dc844a4fe9d3c11f4e103",
"course_id": "CHEM 699",
"title": "DIRECTED STUDY",
"credits_min": 1,
"credits_max": 6,
"gpa": 3.968
}
],
"revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
"instructor_url": "/instructors/SAMUEL_GELLMAN"
}