Chemistry is the central science, connecting biology, physics, medicine, environmental sciences, neuroscience, and engineering. We offer a rigorous program, certified by the American Chemical Society, and housed in the LEED-certified Swanson Science Center equipped with research-grade instrumentation. Students have the opportunity to conduct one-on-one research with faculty members, often presenting their work at regional and national conferences. We provide leadership opportunities. Students can serve as laboratory assistants and participate in outreach events like Saturday Science.
Chemistry students can participate in the 3-2 Engineering Program and seek Secondary Education Certification in Chemistry. Additional course information is available in the W&J College Catalog.
Beyond the Classroom
Students have a wide array of opportunities for research, internships, conferences, and networking beyond the classroom that give them an advantage to prepare for life after W&J.
Research and Internships
- Students have done internships at the FBI, NYU, Kinex Pharmaceuticals, Mylan, Pitt, & UCLA.
- Our students have presented at national conferences in San Diego, Denver, Orlando, Chicago, New Orleans, & Washington, D.C.
- Students have been awarded W&J funding to conduct research in England, the Netherlands, France, Ecuador, Spain, Costa Rica, & China.
Alumni Achievements
- Students have earned graduate degrees from Penn State, Columbia, Princeton, Michigan, Penn, Cornell, Pitt, Stanford, Harvard, Chicago, & MIT.
- They’ve attended medical school at George Washington, Virginia Tech, Pitt, Penn State, WVU, Temple, & South Carolina.
- They’ve won fellowships and recognition from Fulbright and the National Science Foundation.
Careers
- Possibilities include industry, forensic science, patent law, teaching, the brewing industry, toxicology, medicine, research, hospital administration, engineering, & public health.
- Alumni are employed at Merck, DuPont, PPG, Intel, L’Oréal, UPMC, the FBI, & Siemens Engineering. They are surgeons, chemists, physical therapists, hospitalists, lawyers, etc.
Instrumentation & Resources
The chemistry faculty recognizes the power of modern instrumentation in dealing with the problems fundamental to the study of chemistry both in the academic and industrial setting. Today any student graduating without proper training in and access to modern instrumentation is at a decided disadvantage. The department possesses a wide range of instrumental equipment for use by our students in laboratory courses and research projects. Major pieces of instrumental equipment are listed below.
In addition, the department is well stocked with standard laboratory equipment including analytical balances, pH meters, Mel-Temps, Bausch and Lomb Spectronic 20's, rotary evaporators, refrigerators, vacuum pumps, drying ovens, calorimeters, osmometer, and a magnetic susceptibility balance.
The department has a Varian Inova 400 MHz Widebore Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectrophotometer equipped with autosampler. This technique is critical in chemistry, allowing us to identify the structural backbone of molecules. Students first encounter the NMR in Organic Chemistry I (CHM 160). They use it in a variety of courses including Organic Chemistry II (CHM 170), Intermediate Organic (CHM 320), Advanced Synthesis Laboratory (CHM 380), Chemical Measurements (CHM 385), and Independent Study (CHM 500/501).
Research by students involving the NMR has appeared in publications in the peer-reviewed journals Tetrahedron Letters (Papers I and II) and Magnetic Resonance in Chemistry.
The NMR was purchased through a Major Research Instrumentation Grant from the National Science Foundation (CHE-0535656) with more recent support provided by a generous donation from the Anderson Family.
