The people at MyEdu.com polled thousands of students from 15 different universities, asking each institution to name their favorite professors — the results for N.C. State might be surprising.

Four of the top five professors from the University are chemistry lecturers, an odd result according to MyEdu media coordinator, Kathryn Walker.

“We polled 14 other schools, and I don’t think any of them had a chemistry teacher,” she said.

Walker said she was surprised by N.C. State’s results, because chemistry is not something one thinks of as being a favorite class.

The poll was e-mailed out to more than 1,700 N.C. State students, according to Walker. It was conducted over the first week of February, but the results were not just based off of those e-mails.

“We not only looked at the poll responses, but we went over thousands of professor reviews to see what students were saying about the professors,” she said.

Walker said the poll gives recognition to professors in a different way than other University awards.

“Some professors get awards for research and from the academic side of things, but this really shows them actual student recognition,” Walker said.

Chemistry professors Dorian Canlesas, Bruce Novak, Lori Petrovich and Kay Sandberg, along with mathematics professor Thomas Wears, were named as “N.C. State’s 2011 Most Loved Professors” by MyEdu.com.

Chemistry classes are notoriously difficult, so the reason for the winners is unclear. Walker said the data suggested these professors did not get picked because they were an “easy A.”

“What we found in the reviews were teachers who inspired students,” she said. “We saw some overlap with our off-the-record ‘tough love’ ratings.”

She said the professors may not necessarily be easy, but they are enthusiastic and encourage students.

Professor Kay Sandberg was surprised and delighted to hear that she was one of the most loved professors at N.C. State. She attributes her nomination to her passion as a teacher, and the relevance of chemistry to people’s lives.

“I think the students recognize that I put a lot of energy into teaching,” Sandberg said. “I get out there and teach my heart out.”

Sandberg added, “I’m like a drill instructor in basic training. I push kids to learn. I tell students I’m either loved or I’m hated.”

When told that four out of five of the most loved professors were chemistry teachers, she cited the significance of chemistry in everyone’s life as a possible explanation.

“The thing about chemistry is that it touches everyone’s life, even if you don’t realize it,” Sandberg said. “Teachers who enjoy the subject, and also enjoy people, make an impression on students.”

She does, however, admit that numbers are a factor. Some chemistry teachers teach more than 200 students, Sandberg said, so volume gives chemistry some edge over other subjects that teach only smaller classes.

Walker said that despite the results of polls such as this one, some people don’t take professor rating websites seriously.

“I know there is a lot of professor and student skepticism of [websites like MyEdu.com], but we take our reviews and data seriously,” Walker said. “MyEdu has data from over 750 universities and helps students not only choose professors, but manage their entire academic career.”