The speaker will share his experiences teaching college chemistry after a productive and varied career in corporate R&D. Dr. Silverman will highlight how student learning can be enhanced by taking advantage of a broad corporate background and bringing many aspects of his earlier career into the classroom. His diverse experiences include inventing and developing products for oil refining, semiconductor manufacturing, forensic analysis, and pharmaceutical development. Teaching in the private sector included training police officers and criminologists in forensic analyses, instructing international customers and sales representatives in the use of analytical instruments, and teaching laboratory technicians analytical procedures. Nonetheless, a career change into teaching brought many challenges, especially how to teach effectively despite students' highly varied technical backgrounds and levels of interest. Taking advantage of the practical, results-orientated perspective gained in industry helps to engage students. Classroom examples drawn from personal experiences in forensics, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and energy production bring home the importance of the knowledge and skills that the students are learning. Measurement of a contaminant and purification of a product take on new meaning, when you are the sole supplier of a lifesaving drug and a test animal just died from an unknown contaminant. The traceability of analytical standards and validation of the procedures become critical issues when you testify as an expert witness in a vehicular homicide-DUI trial. This talk will expand on the speaker's experiences in becoming a teacher after a varied career in corporate R&D, and emphasize what this perspective can bring to enhancing students' learning.