Corey Husic grew up around Lafayette College, attending the campus’ local daycare for faculty children and hanging around his dad’s workspace. Now, he shares this space with his dad as a colleague.
“People find it kind of amusing that there’s this father-son duo hanging around,” Husic said.
Hired by the chemistry department as a visiting assistant professor this spring semester, Husic regularly sees his father — professor and former head of the chemistry department David Husic — around Hugel Science Center. Corey Husic’s beginnings at Lafayette align with his father’s last semester before retirement.
“I grew up in this building,” Corey Husic said of Hugel Science Center. As a kid, he would often sit in empty classrooms during the summer while his dad worked in the lab.
“Now I’m teaching in those same rooms,” he added.
Corey Husic explained that one of the best parts of coming to Lafayette was the “nostalgia” of getting to see old faces and familiar places on campus. He mentioned Deborah Bastinelli, the secretary for the chemistry and physics department, who often babysat him as a kid.
“I met Corey as an infant and watched him grow and it’s just such a pleasure to see him here now,” Bastinelli said.
According to Corey Husic, their family has always been a “science-y, nerdy family.”
Corey Husic’s mother is a biochemist and currently serves as the executive director of the Center for the Environment at St. Lawrence University. His brother is also a PhD candidate in physics.
“He didn’t say, ‘Oh, you gotta be a chemist,’ or make me want to be a chemist at an early age,” Corey Husic said of his father. “But he let me be curious, and my curiosity was about the natural world.”
Corey Husic called his father to ask whether “it would be weird” to apply for a position where the pair might work together, according to David Husic.
“I said, ‘Oh, maybe, but that’s okay,'” David Husic said.
“I didn’t necessarily know he was thinking of academic positions at that point,” he continued. “So I said, ‘If you want to, go ahead and apply.’ I totally stayed out of the search.”
Hiring Corey Husic for the position was an “easy decision” for the search committee and chemistry department, according to chemistry department head Chip Nataro.
“He’s great at interacting with students,” Nataro said. “His office is right next to mine, so I see how many people are going and chatting with him. It’s really a great energy and dynamic he brings.”
As a visiting assistant professor, Corey Husic is currently teaching three classes this semester: General Chemistry I and Organic Chemistry I and II. For the next two semesters until spring 2026, his position will help fill two gaps in the department from faculty currently on sabbatical.
As David Husic prepares for retirement, he reflected on his 39 years at the college, in which he established the biochemistry major at Lafayette and researched carbon dioxide uptake.
“I couldn’t imagine having a better career,” he said. “It’s been really wonderful and rewarding, both personally and professionally. I wouldn’t do anything differently.”
“This is a visiting position, but in the long run, this is the kind of college I would love to teach at,” Corey Husic said. “This was a beautiful experience and, yeah, it worked out.”
