Key Allegheny Benefits

• Sound preparation for graduate study, professional training, or employment in the chemical sciences.
• An appreciation for intellectual rigor and the discipline necessary to attain it.
• Critical reasoning skills that encompass the interplay between theory and experiment.
• Independence, creativity and substantial laboratory skills.
• The experience of learning as a collective phenomenon and participation in the advancement of knowledge as part of a group.

Allegheny Distinctions

• Close student/faculty contact, especially at the junior and senior levels.
• Professors' excellence in and commitment to teaching at all levels.
• A curriculum connecting the subdisciplines of chemistry and providing an abundance of integrated laboratory experiences.
• Opportunities and facilities for student research, including the required Senior Project.
  Rigorous academic standards.

Endorsements

• " Allegheny has a fabulous national reputation for science and just in general. There are some exciting experiments in science education going on at Allegheny. They're turning out lots of great products, and I want to see what the secret is here." - Harry Gray, director of the Beckman Institute at CalTech, Priestley Medalist, and past Lord Lecturer at Allegheny
• Allegheny chemistry students applying to graduate and professional schools have an acceptance rate of over 95%.
• Grants totalling over $518,000 from the National Science Foundation, the Petroleum Research Fund, and other foundations are currently supporting faculty and undergraduate research projects.
• A grant of over $118,000 from the Thomas Lord Charitable Trust is supporting the teaching and learning of chemistry through technology- assisted instruction.
• " I had always believed that being a medical doctor was the best way to help people and to save lives. But my experience at Allegheny and an internship in synthetic organic chemistry changed my mind. I realized I could have a major impact by conducting research and developing new drugs." - Aaron Balog '91, member of special anti-cancer research team, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York City
• Since 1920 the department has ranked in the top 5% among private, undergraduate institutions in production of eventual Ph.D.s.
• " In Allegheny's labs, I used to make new compounds that no one else had, and that's where the thrill is, in doing something new." Dr. William Wilcko '76, orthodontist and co-developer of Wilckodontics, a patented surgical procedure that accelerates the tooth alignment process and dramatically decreases the amount of time patients must wear braces.
• Department is accredited by the American Chemical Society.

Facilities' Strengths

• Doane Hall of Chemistry provides state-of-the-art facilities for upper-level instruction in chemistry and for student research.
• Nearly 45 computer workstations are located in the science center for student use.
• In addition to standard instruments, undergraduates also have access to liquid chromatographs, infrared and UV-visible spectrophotometers, a liquid scintillation counter, a nitrogen and dye laser, a nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer and a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer.
• Through cooperation with other departments on campus, an atomic absorption spectrometer and an X-ray fluorescence spectrometer are used by chemistry students in classes and for research.
• $200,000 grant from Thomas Lord Charitable Trust funded modernization of introductory chemistry labs in Carr Hall.

Student Research and Special Projects

The Senior Project is the climax of the major program. Every Alleghenian completes a Senior Project in his or her major field - a significant piece of original work, designed by each student and a faculty advisor, that demonstrates to employers and graduate schools the ability to complete a major assignment, to work independently, to analyze and synthesize information, and to write and speak persuasively. Chemistry majors frequently present their results at national meetings; successful projects can lead to publication in professional journals.

Senior Project Guidelines

Recent Senior Projects by Chemistry Majors

• Designing Catalytic Manganese Complexes That Resist Oxidative Degradation
• Effects of Immobilization in Langmuir-Blodgett Films on Myoglobin's Peroxidase Activity
• Sulfones as Synthetic Intermediates toward 2,4-Disubstituted Furans
• Alkylation of Sulfonyl Furan as a Model Study Toward Natural Product Synthesis
• Asymmetric Addition to Imines Using a Chiral Template
• Boron-Mediated Intermolecular Strategies for the Preparation of Amines
• A Study of Metal-Keratin Interactions and the Role of Organic Anions in the Mordanting Process
• Devising a Chemistry 116 Inorganic Module: Preparation and Analysis of Thermochromic Complexes of Nickel (II) Ethylenediamine Derivatives

Selected Student Achievements

• In 2001, seven Allegheny chemistry majors presented posters or talks at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research.
• A recent graduate was the first non-Ph.D. hired as a chemist at Magellan Labs.
• A current student facilitated a session on peer leadership at the 2001 SENCER Summer Institute, San Jose, California.
• A member of the class of '96 was named a Mayo Minority Scholar, one of only four selected nationwide.