Chemistry majors learn to interpret the world through the study of the properties, composition, and structure of matter. They also study the changes that alter the properties of substances and the energy involved in such transformations. Students who major in biochemistry focus specifically on the chemical characteristics and reactions of living systems.

Both majors are administered by the chemistry department, which is approved by the American Chemical Society for the professional training of chemists. The program provides sound training in principles and techniques for students who plan careers in chemistry. For those who may have a different career aim, it provides background for understanding the physical world and the problems that face a technological society.

One of the great strengths of the department is that you may choose an A.B. or a B.S. degree in chemistry or biochemistry. The B.S. degree in chemistry meets the standards of the American Chemical Society and is preferred by graduate schools and government and industry employers who seek maximum professional capability at the undergraduate level.

The A.B. chemistry degree offers students more flexibility in the curriculum. An A.B. major may choose minimum work in chemistry and more study in other fields, or select courses to achieve a high degree of specialization in chemistry.

Students seeking a B.S. in biochemistry take courses in both chemistry and biology in a structured program. It differs from the A.B. biochemistry degree in requiring more rigorous calculus, physics, and physical chemistry courses, and additional advanced chemistry and biology courses.

Chemistry and biochemistry majors may also select a minor in another subject.

Undergraduate Research

Lafayette’s chemistry department offers research opportunities that go far beyond those of most undergraduate schools. All faculty members involve students in their research programs, providing one of the most valuable learning experiences that a student can have.

Opportunities for collaborative student-faculty research are available through the College’s EXCEL Scholars program or through independent study or the honors program.

Students in upper classes may compete for paid teaching assistant positions. This program is popular with students not just for the salary they earn, but because of the experience they gain. They are chosen on the basis of academic record and an interview.

The assistants teach general chemistry laboratories under the direction of a full-time laboratory coordinator who works closely with them in the laboratory. After training, they present prelaboratory lectures, teach the laboratories, grade lab reports, and hold help sessions. Students also serve as paid assistants in the chemistry department stockroom.

Through the American Chemical Society student affiliates group, students host outside speakers, take field trips to observe how chemistry is used in area businesses, and give chemical demonstrations and presentations in the community.

For students considering a career in the health professions, Lafayette’s Health Professions Advising Program is available to chemistry/biochemistry majors as well as students majoring in other areas who plan to attend a health professions graduate school. The program provides individual advising beginning in the first semester at Lafayette, and coordinates physician-alumni mentor programs and opportunities for research, internships, and volunteer experiences.

Chemistry, biochemistry, and physics share space in Hugel Science Center. Designed to facilitate collaborative learning and eliminate the traditional boundaries between classroom and laboratory, the 90,000-square-foot complex features outstanding teaching and research areas, seminar rooms, student study lounges, faculty-student research areas, and faculty offices. The layout is designed to facilitate students working in teams, and is intentionally flexible to accommodate both current and future trends in the use of instrumentation and educational technology. The facility is among the finest at any undergraduate college in the nation.

Major instrumentation includes a gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer; a 400 MHz Fourier transform nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer; three Fourier transform infrared spectrometers; visible, ultraviolet, and luminescence spectrometers; an atomic force microscope; laser spectroscopy equipment; gas chromatographs; high-performance liquid chromatographs; flame and furnace atomic absorption spectrometers; apparatus for electrochemistry; high speed and ultracentrifuges; a glove box for air-sensitive chemistry; electrophoresis equipment; laminar flow hood for cell culture work; and numerous computers to control instruments, facilitate data analysis, and for routine software applications and high-speed Internet access. All departmental instrumentation is available for student use in classes and research after appropriate training.

Upon completion of B.S. or A.B. degrees in chemistry or biochemistry, graduates have been very successful in their pursuit of entry into high quality graduate and medical degree programs, and in gaining employment in industry.

Among chemistry graduates in the Class of 2006, 40 percent accepted jobs, 40 percent enrolled in graduate programs, and 20 percent enrolled in health professions programs. Recent graduates have accepted positions at Merck & Co., Inc., Ortho McNeil Pharmaceutical, National Starch, Variagenics, Ashland Chemical, GlaxoSmithKline, Lerner Research Institute, RohMax Oil Additives, BASF, Sanofi Pasteur, Wyeth, Cintas, and Cephalon.

Graduates in recent years have entered advanced degree programs in chemistry, biochemistry, or related disciplines at California-Berkeley, California-San Diego, CalTech, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Lehigh, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Penn State, Rochester, Syracuse, Stanford, Virginia, and Yale; teaching at Massachusetts-Amherst; and medical degree programs at Penn State, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, SUNY College of Optometry, SUNY-Stony Brook, Temple, Massachusetts, Robert Wood Johnson, and Thomas Jefferson.

William H. Miles, Professor and Head. Ph.D., University of Wisconsin. Teaching areas: organic chemistry, structure determination by physical methods. Research interests: synthesis of biologically important compounds, organometallic chemistry.

Michael Chejlava, Laboratory/Instrumentation Specialist. Ph.D., Kansas State University. Teaching areas: analytical and general chemistry laboratories.

Yvonne M. Gindt, Assistant Professor. Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley. Teaching areas: introductory chemistry and physical chemistry. Research interests: biophysical chemistry, protein quaternary structure, and time-resolved spectroscopy.

Kenneth Haug, Associate Professor. Ph.D., University of Minnesota. Teaching areas: introductory chemistry and physical chemistry. Research interests: computational physical chemistry, surface chemistry, and chemical kinetics.

Tina Huang, Assistant Professor. Ph.D., University of Kansas. Teaching areas: introductory chemistry, analytical chemistry and instrumental analysis. Research interests: electrochemical characterization of thin film surfaces, nano-scale study of biomolecule-modified surfaces and carbon nanotubes, biosensor development, and biochemical sensing applications.

H. David Husic, (Home Page), John D. and Frances H. Larkin Professor. Ph.D., Michigan State University. Teaching area: biochemistry. Research interests: mechanisms of carbon dioxide utilization and carbon metabolism in photosynthetic organisms.

Steven E. Mylon, Assistant Professor. Ph.D., Dartmouth College. Teaching areas: introductory chemistry, environmental chemistry, and physical chemistry. Research interests: chemistry and reactivity of dissolved organic matter, biogeochemistry of trace metals in aquatic systems, colloid dynamics in aquatic systems, and applications of physical chemistry to environmental research.

Chip Nataro, Associate Professor. Ph.D., Iowa State University. Teaching areas: inorganic and introductory chemistry. Research interests: synthesis and characterization of organometallic compounds and electrochemical and thermochemical studies of these compounds.

Charles F. Nutaitis, (Home Page), Associate Professor. Ph.D., Dartmouth College. Teaching area: organic chemistry. Research interests: application of borohydrides to organic synthesis of paracyclophanes, heterocyclic chemistry, natural product synthesis.

Gail Salter, General Chemistry Laboratory Coordinator. Ph.D., Vanderbilt University. Teaching area: general chemistry laboratory.

Joseph Sherma, Larkin Professor Emeritus. Ph.D., Rutgers University. Research interests: high-performance quantitative thin layer chromatography; analysis of pesticides, drugs, lipids, food additives, pigments, cosmetic ingredients, and biological samples.

William H. Miles
Head, Chemistry
(610) 330-5221
milesw@lafayette.edu

For general information:
Office of admissions
Lafayette College
Easton, PA 18042
(610) 330-5100
FAX (610) 330-5355
admissions@lafayette.edu