Historical instructor

STEPHEN BLOCK

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.47/5 from 256 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

What students say

Original student reviews · all captured dates

344 · course not matched
Quality 1/5Difficulty 5/5
. I watched him throw a beaker at a student during lab and the University ignored my concerns and hushed the whole situation. I recommend you stay as far away as you can from him.
Rate My Professors ↗
CHEM 103
Quality 1/5Difficulty 5/5
Dr. Block manages the 103 labs extremely poorly and is not accommodating. It takes 6+ hours to complete 1 lab and worse if you are blamed when technology and equipment that's broken when you had no control to begin with. Labs are unclear, unforgiving and nitpicked on the poor wording to be used against you. Be very careful with him...
Rate My Professors ↗
CHEM 109
Quality 5/5Difficulty 2/5
If I had just one—it would be to take this class again. If you are lucky enough to have Dr. Block, consider yourself blessed by the chemistry gods. He is a genuinely great person. You can tell he is smart—not just STEM-smart, but broadly so. I strongly encourage you to visit him during office hours; he has wonderful stories to tell.
Rate My Professors ↗
CHEM 109
Quality 5/5Difficulty 4/5
Dr. Block is an amazing professor. He really cares that his students succeed and has very engaging lectures. He is very thoughtful and hilarious which makes his lectures fun to attend. He goes over different examples from what is given in the pre-class readings which really helps solidify what you read.
Rate My Professors ↗
CHEM 109
Quality 3/5Difficulty 5/5
Chem 109 has a very difficult nature. The tests are incredibly difficult, much more than the practice tests given. Dr. Block is extremely knowledgeable in his field . The thing is Dr. Block says there will be an "adjustment" to grades at the end, but will not post it anywhere. You cannot see how much (if any) your grade was "adjusted".
Rate My Professors ↗
CHEM 109
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
I genuinely cannot say enough good things about Professor Block. He presented the material in such a way that it was so easy to grasp, and made you excited about chemistry. He cares about the success and wellbeing of all of his students, and is just a fun guy to be around.
Rate My Professors ↗

Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with STEPHEN BLOCK

No teaching recorded in Fall 2026.

View last recorded teaching term →

No courses match this selection. Try the full catalog or another term.

Recorded teaching history

Distinct courses recorded per term

Explore courses taught by this instructor →
Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Fall 2025CHEM 109Advanced General Chemistry
Fall 2024CHEM 109Advanced General Chemistry
Fall 2023CHEM 109Advanced General Chemistry
Fall 2022CHEM 109Advanced General Chemistry
Fall 2021CHEM 109Advanced General Chemistry
Fall 2020CHEM 109Advanced General Chemistry
Spring 2020CHEM 104General Chemistry II
Fall 2019CHEM 109Advanced General Chemistry
Fall 2018CHEM 109Advanced General Chemistry
Spring 2018CHEM 104General Chemistry II
Fall 2017CHEM 103General Chemistry I
Spring 2017CHEM 104General Chemistry II
Spring 2017CHEM 106General Chemistry II
Fall 2016CHEM 103General Chemistry I
Spring 2016CHEM 104General Chemistry II
Fall 2015CHEM 103General Chemistry I
Spring 2015CHEM 104General Chemistry II
Fall 2014CHEM 103General Chemistry I
Spring 2014CHEM 104General Chemistry II
Fall 2013CHEM 103General Chemistry I
Spring 2013CHEM 104General Chemistry II
Fall 2012CHEM 103General Chemistry I

Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.

Instructor identity & provenance 
{
  "instructor_uid": "instructor_a770c7bb82cce2cec228caf6",
  "source": "madgrades",
  "source_instructor_id": "3374919",
  "identity_basis": "source_id",
  "identity_status": "source_identified",
  "name": "STEPHEN BLOCK",
  "email": null,
  "first_observed_at": "2026-09-06 23:14:58.172943+00:00",
  "last_observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
  "ratings": {
    "review_count": 256,
    "quality": 4.47,
    "difficulty": 3.41,
    "quality_count": 256,
    "difficulty_count": 256,
    "profile_id": "rmp:2773752",
    "source_url": "https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/2773752",
    "match_basis": "exact_name",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 16:04:50.592873+00:00",
    "courses": {
      "course_c6c64d7584708e58ca90e23d": {
        "review_count": 86,
        "quality": 4.45,
        "difficulty": 3.08,
        "quality_count": 86,
        "difficulty_count": 86
      },
      "course_f4c1d40f8af1545c1ccf8488": {
        "review_count": 98,
        "quality": 4.7,
        "difficulty": 3.6,
        "quality_count": 98,
        "difficulty_count": 98
      },
      "course_1892a0df3dfd0788ad8a857d": {
        "review_count": 52,
        "quality": 3.96,
        "difficulty": 3.79,
        "quality_count": 52,
        "difficulty_count": 52
      }
    },
    "bayesian_quality": 4.411281578517869,
    "prior_mean": 3.6596857835465957,
    "prior_weight": 20
  },
  "grade_statistics": {
    "gpa": 3.096,
    "graded": 6656,
    "counts": [
      2035,
      1095,
      1616,
      729,
      839,
      286,
      56
    ],
    "sections": 24
  },
  "current": false,
  "courses": [],
  "revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "instructor_url": "/instructors/STEPHEN_BLOCK--instructor_a770c7bb82cce2cec228caf6"
}