About Chemistry at Bucknell

General Information

According to the American Chemical Society, one of the best indicators of a successful undergraduate chemistry program is the joint participation of faculty and students in research. By that measure alone, Bucknell rates highly. Moreover, since 1967, Bucknell has been ranked among the top 10 private schools in the nation for the number of undergraduates earning Ph.D.s in chemistry

Undergraduate research is valuable for several reasons: it provides hands-on experience with various instruments and techniques, close interaction with faculty, and it builds self-confidence in the laboratory. All of these factors help to prepare students for a successful future in careers requiring critical thinking, data analysis, and experimental design.

The 12 faculty members in Bucknell's chemistry department conduct research in organic, inorganic, analytical, physical, biological, environmental and polymer chemistry.

Students can work with faculty on research projects beginning their first year at Bucknell. Research not only allows students to "do chemistry," but also provides real-life applications of the principles discussed in the classroom. During the summer, 20 to 30 students spend 10 weeks conducting grant- and university-sponsored research.

The Rooke Chemistry Building opened in 1989 and is attached to the Biology Building. The combined buildings make it possible to teach biology, chemistry and biochemistry in a much more efficient and integrated way. The chemistry department is exceptionally well-equipped with modern laboratory instrumentation. Students work "hands-on" with a wide assortment of instruments including UV-Visible and FTIR spectrophotometers, gas and liquid chromatographs, NMR spectrometers, and GC/mass spectrometers. Major instruments include a Bruker 300 MHz NMR spectrometer and a single-crystal X-ray diffractometer, an electrospray mass spectrometer equipped for LC/MS/MS, and three GC/MS instruments.

Chemistry students begin their study with organic chemistry. Although few universities begin with that course in the first year, Bucknell's faculty finds a brief review of general chemical principles quickly provides a common foundation for the study of organic compounds for students who plan to major in chemistry, chemical engineering, or biology. Concurrent with the study of organic chemistry is the study of calculus. This mathematical preparation provides a firm background for the study of molecular structure, bonding, and analysis in the second year.

Many chemistry majors are active in Bucknell's student chapter of the American Chemical Society, which plans a variety of activities, including tours of chemical companies and nuclear power plants, films, and outside speakers as part of the Merck-Bucknell Lecture Series.

A major in cell biology and biochemistry is offered jointly with the biology department. The chemistry department also offers minors in chemistry and in biochemistry.

Bucknell offers a combined B.S./M.S. degree program for students who know at an early stage that they want a career in chemical research. Selected during their sophomore year, students spend three 10-week summer sessions gathering the experimental results which form the basis for their master's thesis. Their courses satisfy the requirements for the B.S. degree at the end of their senior year and their M.S. degree requirements by the end of that summer. In this way, students are able to accelerate their chemistry education while still obtaining a liberal foundation in the humanities and social sciences.

Nearly half of the approximately 30 chemistry majors graduating each year continue their education at professional schools or in graduate programs. More than 90 graduates are now teaching at universities or colleges, including the University of California, University of Minnesota, Brown University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Florida, California Institute of Technology, Davidson, and Boston College.

Chemistry graduates also pursue careers as research chemists, spectroscopists, and sales people, or in the medical field as physicians. Bucknell's chemistry graduates also include a dairy farmer, a minister, a patent attorney, and programmer analysts.

Whatever their career goals, students can be assured that Bucknell will prepare them well. A recent letter from a major university noted that a Bucknell graduate had "excellent laboratory habits and a real flair for research."