Department of Chemistry

Overview

The Department of Chemistry is located centrally on the Purdue campus and is housed in the Richard B. Wetherill Laboratories(WTHR) and the Herbert C. Brown Laboratory of Chemistry(BRWN). Students, faculty, and staff have access to world class facilities both for teaching and research.

Our Mission | Our Vision

The Department is home to:

52 faculty members
350 undergraduate students
310 graduate students
90 support personnel

In the 2013 Academic Ranking of World Universities (Shanghai Rankings), our departments ranked 20th world-wide and 13th nationally.

The Department of Chemistry offers a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry (ACS accredited), a Bachelor of Science and a minor in Chemistry. The department also offers an Honors program and the opportunity to participate in Cooperative Education Program.

Honors Program

The Department of Chemistry has an honors program for superior students. Participation can begin during the sophomore year, and a student will be assigned to advanced sections in chemistry courses. During the junior and senior years, a student engages in undergraduate research, participates in research seminars and completes honor courses. The undergraduate research experience (CHM 49900 or equivalent) is to be a minimum of six credits. In addition, the student must write an honor’s thesis based on the CHM 49900 work. The faculty advisor will read the thesis and the student will give a presentation of the research.

Admission to the chemistry honors program must be made by the end of the junior year. The honors student is expected to achieve and maintain a scholastic graduation index of at least 3.40. Students fulfilling requirements of the chemistry honors program will be graduated “with honors in chemistry”. The honors program has been approved by the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Cooperative Education Program

The Department of Chemistry participates in the Cooperative Education Program. This program requires five years and involves the option of 3 or 5 work period sessions, either semester or summer modules, with a cooperating company in the chemical industry. As a student gains experience, she or he is given increasingly responsible industrial assignments and receives more compensation. A student can enter the program meeting the following requirements: has completed two semesters of chemistry and has a chemistry index of 2.80. Information is available from the Coordinator of Cooperative Education in the Department of Chemistry. Check with your advisor for further information.

Department of Chemistry Website

Faculty

Contact Information

Head: Professor Chris Hrycyna
Graduate Admissions: Dr. Stephen Hoffmann, Assistant Head
Undergraduate Information: Dr. Christine Schertz
Webmaster: webmaster@chem.purdue.edu

Mailing address:
Department of Chemistry
560 Oval Drive
West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-2084
Telephone (765) 494-5200 FAX (765) 494-0239

Graduate Information

For Graduate Information please see Chemistry Graduate Program Information .

Programs

Baccalaureate

Minor

Chemistry Minor

Courses

Chemistry

Communication

Campus