Make sure to pay attention in lectures or you'll fall behind BUT he clearly has a great grasp on the content and knows how to teach it to students without going overly in-depth. If you take the time to understand the HW and go to his office hours before each quiz you will for sure get an A. Only complaint is he's a little unorganized

I had Lewis for 109A and 109B and switching was the best decision I ever made. Grades are distributed a lot better, final is not worth a lot, more hw completion points and mastering chem every 2 weeks. His lectures are fun. Quizzes are not too bad, but only three questions so if u mess up u lose a lot of points. Overall loved him!!

Great professor, right up there with Lewis. Very understanding when whole class does not preform well on a quiz. Class laid out to give you a C automatically if you at least do mastering chem + bacon and decent on quizzes. Lectures were very organized and he did a great job of connecting ideas from chapter to chapter.

multiple choice and mechanism quizzes alternated every week. quizzes and homework is about equal in weight with the final being 9%. go to office hours! prof read is super helpful and detailed. he cares about his students and wants you to succeed. the best teacher i've had so far. his class is super organized - upfront & clear communication.

I took 109B with Read in the winter. His lectures are great as he knows how to both get his point across and empasize what's important. He doesn't bog you down with a bunch of HW, but does have recommended book problems. Super friendly during class and in office hours. Tests are very straightforward. He's definitely passionate about the topic.

i had lewis for 109a and lewis was teaching 109b, but the timing for read's lecture was a better fit for my schedule so i signed up for him. best decision ever!! wish he was teaching 109c. fair tests, no surprises, and is super helpful during office hours. go to lecture, he gives hint for tests, and do the book problems and clas and you'll get an A

Can I just tell you. You will never find another college professor like Read. He actually made me INTERESTED about ochem. Read delivers truly amazing lectures, and is so passionate about the subject. By far my fav professor at UCSB. Price is a close second. Do the recommended problems and go to lecture. His exams are based on what he says in class!

He is a great person and professor. He will make sure you know the material if you talk to him. Tests are challenging but very fair, study the lectures more than texts. Overall, would take him again for any organic class, learned allot and had allot of fun.

Read's lectures were fantastic! He goes over everything you need to know to understand the concepts. He also offers regrading on exams which you should definitely use because I earned 6% back on my exams. Averages on midterms were around 64% but the class ends up curved at the end. Don't skip lecture and do all of the recommended book problems!

My third attempt (second try) at taking 109B was with Read of Fall 2017 and he is the best professor for Ochem honestly. His exams were doable yet hard so understand the material. Something I like about his teaching style is that he actually uses the board when teaching, which helped me understand the mechanisms better. He really does care!

I never really liked chem but I came out of his class having a renewed respect for the subject and more confidence in myself as a student. He actually cares, lectures well, and is always willing to help out when you need it. Tests were fair but definitely not easy (understand, don't memorize!). Definitely my favorite bio/chem professor here.

Hands down, best professor I've had so far at UCSB, really cares about students learning the material. Very fair with grading policies as well. Listens to student feedback and incorporates that into his presentations.

The tests were pretty hard but there weren't any tricks, it's just whether or not you know the stuff he explained in class (you do have to know it in detail though). He's also really helpful if you go to office hours and he's just a really nice dude who clearly cares about student success. Probably my favorite professor I've had at UCSB so far.

The best professor I've had so far. Go to office hours and get to know him. He actually teaches tries to make his lectures interesting

He's so great!! Genuinely cares that students learn and he finds ways to present the material in ways that students will understand.

Decent lecturer but he can get confusing and hard to follow at times. He is very passionate about organic chemistry and truly wants to see his students learn. Tests are extremely hard, so watch out. Sign up for CLAS

Crazy hard professor. Very confusing in lecture. Not clear and goes off on tangents. No grasp of understanding by students in lecture. Read the book for the best results. Averages on exams are 40-50%. Curves grades 20-25%. Must know all reagents and reactions. A lot to memorize. Midterms are harder than final. Must know how to combine reactions.

Lectures are confusing if you dose off for a minute. But he basically tells you everything you need to know for your exam, in lecture. However, it's never that easy. He always throws a few tricks in his exams. He starts his exams off with questions that everyone can answer correctly, then later on writes impossible questions. Hardest ochem prof.

Professor Read is an amazing lecturer, he really cares about the students and wants everyone to do well. The class itself is not easy, but he clearly explains and labels everything you need to know. He is by far the best professor I've had.

Read de Alaniz was an awesome professor. Very passionate about chemistry and great at explaining the important aspects of applicable ochem. Tests were pretty fair and if you put in the work, you should be able to do fine on them. Makes you realize how bad Bruice really is at TEACHING organic chemistry.

His tests are hard, but not impossible. If you go to lecture you can predict how the test is going to be formatted. Most helpful office hours I've ever been to.

Great teacher. He made the concepts very accessible, and his lectures were on point. His tests were very fair, with a good range of difficulty as to test everyone's grasp on the overall concepts and not just rote memorization. Attending his office hours was fun and also made studying a breeze. Be prepared for 1 or 2 complex questions on each test.