Professionalism: An exemplar for the sciences

The construct of a profession encompasses several core elements that guide the behavior of its members and the quality standards for the services they provide and products they produce: primarily, competency specifications for members of the profession, a code of professional and ethical behavior, and a commitment to serve the public good. Professionalism is the embodiment of a profession’s expertise, ethos, and service to the public good. As an academic scientist, David Triggle exhibited an extraordinary mastery of professionalism in two domains: science and academic leadership in higher education. Sociocultural changes, including the commodification of knowledge, science, and higher education, are posing challenges to the professions and their traditional values. Whereas the effectiveness of ethics instruction is questionable, positive mentoring has shown promise as a means to help professionals maintain the ideals and the values of their chosen occupations. David Triggle was an extremely effective and revered mentor to numerous individuals in the sciences as well as in higher education, enhancing their professional enculturation and development. He fostered integrity of purpose in our respective professional lives and work, and was and remains an exemplar of professionalism.

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