A Brief Review of the Department

The Department of Chemistry at St. Edward's University offers B.S. and B.A. degrees in chemistry and a B.S. degree in biochemistry. In recent years, a total of 500-600 students per year have been enrolled in chemistry courses. There are currently four Ph.D. chemists/biochemists who hold tenured or tenure-track appointments in the Department of Chemistry, and we also employ a full-time Post-Doctoral Teaching Associate.

The Department places a strong emphasis on experiential learning by requiring each student to take at least three semesters of research courses and participate in a faculty-student research group. A department goal is for every student to present the results of this research at meetings of professional societies such as the American Chemical Society and the Texas Academy of Science. In support of this emphasis, the faculty has worked with other departments and the University Administration to acquire funding to support curricular innovation and specifically modern laboratory instrumentation. These efforts have been very successful as evidenced by ongoing Departmental Research Grants from the Welch Foundation, curricular and equipment grants from the National Science Foundation, equipment grants from the Keck Foundation and most recently a $2.25 million, five-year grant from U.S. Dept. of Education under the Title V provision. The department is considered to be one of the best equipped small college chemistry departments in the country.