Richard Whalen is an Engineering professor at Northeastern University rated 4.28/5 by 520 students, with 3.17/5 difficulty and 88.0% who would take them again (TRACE + RateMyProfessors + Reddit, updated July 2026).
Richard Whalen professor reviews and ratings: 4.28/5 from 520 student reviews at Northeastern (88.0% would take again). TRACE + RateMyProfessor + Reddit.
Very intelligent, conscientious, caring guy. He wants to see you succeed in his course and is always available the same day, usually already in FYELIC. His lectures are broken up by participation activities that go over what you were just taught. I didn't get much from TopHat, but it is graded.GE1501 2026-01-09 05:45:30 +0000 UTC
He is by far the hardest cornerstone professor. He gives the most work and the hardest projects. He's a pretty understanding guy, but he will hold you accountable and isn't afraid to call you out. It is an easy A because there is plenty of grades, and tests/quizzes are easy if you study a little. Make sure you know people in the class.GE1502 2024-05-23 19:54:41 +0000 UTC
Great guy and good teacher. Very smart at what he does, but he also assumes everyone else has a background with computer science prior to the class, so there is a decent amount of learning and work to do if you don't know anything.GE1101 2023-10-25 15:20:56 +0000 UTC
Whalen is just amazing. Had him for both 1110 and 1111, and would take his class again if I was a MechE. Yes, there are a lot of assignments and they take a while but they're very straightforward, he is completely willing to help if you ask, and coming in with little/no knowledge of coding, it was honestly so helpful. He's awesome! Definitely take.GE1111 2016-04-20 12:33:18 +0000 UTC
He's the man. Probably the best professor in the engineering department. If you don't have him, I actually feel bad for youGE1110 2016-01-11 17:02:08 +0000 UTC
Probably the best teacher that I have had in college! His lesson plans are well thought out and thorough. All of the tests and homework were very fair. I truly looked forward to going to class!ME2350 2014-01-14 22:11:16 +0000 UTC
Prof Whalen gives a lot of work but isn't that hard of a grader. He wants to see everyone do well and understand the key topics. He tends to focus towards mechanical engineering. His pumpkin drop is an awesome project.GE1000 2011-12-07 15:36:01 +0000 UTC
Very cool professor. We had so much fun in class.GEU1111 2010-03-27 13:54:48 +0000 UTC
This guy is the reason why I lift my family and came to America.Iam serious ! he is very smart , easy going , the class and material are very intersting and helpful.Take with him with no doubt !GEU1110 2009-12-03 18:42:12 +0000 UTC
Great teacher. I had him for Engineering Design, and signed up for him again for Engineering Computations. He is probably the best teacher i have ever had, except that his homework can be difficult at times. Show up to class, pay attention, and do the homework, and you will do fine on the finals/ projects.ENGCOMP 2009-09-01 23:55:46 +0000 UTC
Great professor. I knew nothing about programming going in but came out with an A in the class. Most lab assignments are easy enough to understand and quizzes are graded pretty leniently. The lecture days can be a little slow but they're always balanced out with practice programming assignments to help you undersand the material.GEU111 2009-04-30 16:45:48 +0000 UTC
learned a lot of programming skills. really nice guy and willing to help. quizzes are straight forward and he is an easy grader.GE111 2009-04-16 13:56:06 +0000 UTC
wow. papa w's is the man. great teachers, teaches u everything u need to know for a GOOD intro to engineering. heads up you WILL have 6 projects at one time or another in the semester, but deal with it. gotta love prof. whalenGEU110 2007-12-19 11:35:04 +0000 UTC
he is the bestCEU111 2007-06-08 15:56:52 +0000 UTC
Everything is straightforward and grading is fair. At time the class is flooded with work, but the work is interesting at least.ENGU110 2006-12-19 11:48:41 +0000 UTC
Richard Whalen has an average rating of 4.28/5 from 520 student reviews. 88.0% of students said they would take them again.
Richard Whalen's classes have a difficulty rating of 3.17/5 based on student reviews.
Richard Whalen has taught GE1501, GE1502, GE1110, GE1111, ME2350 at Northeastern.
Data updated July 2026.