{"id":27294,"date":"2019-06-03T20:01:42","date_gmt":"2019-06-04T00:01:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/2019\/06\/04\/from-chocolate-to-chemistry-he-has-the-answers\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T14:15:51","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T18:15:51","slug":"from-chocolate-to-chemistry-he-has-the-answers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/06\/03\/from-chocolate-to-chemistry-he-has-the-answers\/","title":{"rendered":"From Chocolate to Chemistry, He has the Answers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"NECC<\/a>

Don’t let the chocolate fool you. Dr. Mike Cross is serious about teaching chemistry and forensic science in the most digestible way.<\/p><\/div>\n

Whether he is extolling the virtues of dark chocolate, planning a weekend board game marathon, or dusting for fingerprints in his forensic science class, Professor Mike Cross does it with a laid-back enthusiasm that is positively infectious.<\/p>\n

Some playfully call Dr. Cross the \u201cchocolate doctor\u201d. We call him a faculty force, who once, despite holding a Ph.D., enrolled at NECC as a new student to experience what his students experience. Now that is dedication.<\/p>\n

Cross, who teaches in the natural science s department, is a member of the NECC Speakers Bureau where he is a popular lecturer on the topics of chocolate and medical quackery. He is also founder and advisor to the NECC Bacon Board Gamers\u2019 Club; and if his Forensic Science class were a concert, it would be standing room only.<\/p>\n

He is a natural educator and communicator, who readily admits he wanted to be a scientist since kindergarten. Now, he brings that youthful wonderment and enthusiasm into the classroom, constantly exploring new ways to teach age-old information. He employs magic tricks and demonstrations to emphasize a point.<\/p>\n

For example, to explain dimensional analysis, a problem-solving tool used in chemistry, Cross retrofitted dominoes with chemistry symbols. Students use the symbols to set up a problem and then flip the dominoes in order to see the conversion factors and calculate the answer.\u00a0 \u201cIt’s fun, easy and it really works,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The son of a physicist\/engineer, Cross wanted to emulate his dad.<\/p>\n

A self-described \u201clab geek,\u201d Cross initially thought he might pursue pharmacy or a lab science. He never stood at the front of a classroom until the last year of his Ph.D. program when he had the opportunity to teach for six weeks. The chemistry in the classroom resulted in an instant career change.<\/p>\n

\u201cI found I loved teaching. Interestingly enough, one of my earliest memories is of chalk dust from my Dad\u2019s classroom when he was in graduate school,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Professor Cross and his young family headed east following his graduation from the University of Utah.<\/p>\n

Today, he has no regrets about trading the laboratory in for the classroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy favorite part of teaching is seeing the students getting excited about science,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

He still gets to indulge his research side by serving as adviser to students in NECC Honors Experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get to see research on topics I am curious about,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Whether he is talking chocolate or chemistry, Dr. Mike Cross has all the answers to your questions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":26600,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFrom Chocolate to Chemistry, He has the Answers - NECC News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/06\/03\/from-chocolate-to-chemistry-he-has-the-answers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From Chocolate to Chemistry, He has the Answers - NECC News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Whether he is talking chocolate or chemistry, Dr. Mike Cross has all the answers to your questions.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/06\/03\/from-chocolate-to-chemistry-he-has-the-answers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NECC News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-06-04T00:01:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-14T18:15:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Mike-Cross.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1715\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ellen Small-Davis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ellen Small-Davis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/06\/03\/from-chocolate-to-chemistry-he-has-the-answers\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/06\/03\/from-chocolate-to-chemistry-he-has-the-answers\/\",\"name\":\"From Chocolate to Chemistry, He has the Answers - NECC News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/06\/03\/from-chocolate-to-chemistry-he-has-the-answers\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/06\/03\/from-chocolate-to-chemistry-he-has-the-answers\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Mike-Cross.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-06-04T00:01:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-14T18:15:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/1482c1e2b61df3b1955e30860d9a769c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/06\/03\/from-chocolate-to-chemistry-he-has-the-answers\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/06\/03\/from-chocolate-to-chemistry-he-has-the-answers\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/06\/03\/from-chocolate-to-chemistry-he-has-the-answers\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Mike-Cross.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Mike-Cross.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":1715},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/06\/03\/from-chocolate-to-chemistry-he-has-the-answers\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/home\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"From Chocolate to Chemistry, He has the Answers\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/\",\"name\":\"NECC News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/1482c1e2b61df3b1955e30860d9a769c\",\"name\":\"Ellen Small-Davis\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/84a1f8e7e823ce7cabaa92618226fd3ba7a7bcee8e352db85821e8ea1e9c86fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/84a1f8e7e823ce7cabaa92618226fd3ba7a7bcee8e352db85821e8ea1e9c86fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ellen Small-Davis\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/esmalldavis\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"From Chocolate to Chemistry, He has the Answers - NECC News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/06\/03\/from-chocolate-to-chemistry-he-has-the-answers\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"From Chocolate to Chemistry, He has the Answers - NECC News","og_description":"Whether he is talking chocolate or chemistry, Dr. Mike Cross has all the answers to your questions.","og_url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/06\/03\/from-chocolate-to-chemistry-he-has-the-answers\/","og_site_name":"NECC News","article_published_time":"2019-06-04T00:01:42+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-05-14T18:15:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":1715,"url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Mike-Cross.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ellen Small-Davis","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ellen Small-Davis","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/06\/03\/from-chocolate-to-chemistry-he-has-the-answers\/","url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/06\/03\/from-chocolate-to-chemistry-he-has-the-answers\/","name":"From Chocolate to Chemistry, He has the Answers - NECC News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/06\/03\/from-chocolate-to-chemistry-he-has-the-answers\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/06\/03\/from-chocolate-to-chemistry-he-has-the-answers\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Mike-Cross.jpg","datePublished":"2019-06-04T00:01:42+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-14T18:15:51+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/1482c1e2b61df3b1955e30860d9a769c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/06\/03\/from-chocolate-to-chemistry-he-has-the-answers\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/06\/03\/from-chocolate-to-chemistry-he-has-the-answers\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/06\/03\/from-chocolate-to-chemistry-he-has-the-answers\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Mike-Cross.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Mike-Cross.jpg","width":1200,"height":1715},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/06\/03\/from-chocolate-to-chemistry-he-has-the-answers\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/home\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"From Chocolate to Chemistry, He has the Answers"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/","name":"NECC News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/1482c1e2b61df3b1955e30860d9a769c","name":"Ellen Small-Davis","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/84a1f8e7e823ce7cabaa92618226fd3ba7a7bcee8e352db85821e8ea1e9c86fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/84a1f8e7e823ce7cabaa92618226fd3ba7a7bcee8e352db85821e8ea1e9c86fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ellen Small-Davis"},"url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/esmalldavis\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27294"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27294\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27295,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27294\/revisions\/27295"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}