Our chemistry program blends a long history of excellence with modern, high-impact, student-centered teaching.
As a chemistry student, you'll get personal attention and laboratory-based in instruction. There will be about 30 students in your first-year chemistry course, and you'll have easy access to professors outside of class. The department offers six different majors which are tailored to the interests and professional aspirations of our students:
- Chemistry
- A.C.S. Certified Chemistry
- Biochemistry
- Chemistry Pre-Medicine
- Chemistry Pre-Pharmacy
- Chemistry Engineering Dual-Degree
The Chemistry Department has adopted national programs proven to improve student learning such as Peer-Led Team Learning, which leverages student engagement and small groups to optimize learning, and Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) — a student-centered approach that also uses small groups and individual roles to make sure every student is engaged in learning. Research experiences in early courses prepare students for graduate and professional school or a science career. We believe that the level of student support in courses and opportunities for early research experience are among the best in Ohio.
what you'll learn
Our Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry has been approved by the American Chemical Society for the professional training of chemists, an honor earned by only about 20 percent of the colleges and universities in the United States. Unlike students at large universities, Capital students also have plenty of access to modern instrumentation beginning in their sophomore year. Spacious lab facilities are available in the Battelle Memorial Hall of Science and Nursing.
As a chemistry major, you'll study classical areas of physical, organic, inorganic, analytical and biochemistry. As you progress through the program, you'll be expected to demonstrate a proficiency in these classical areas, and to develop an understanding of the relationship between the natural sciences, the environment and the ethical issues facing us all.
Capital embraces high-impact teaching practices, like undergraduate research, internships and capstone projects, which are proven strategies for helping students learn and retain what they've learned. So you professors will encourage and mentor you in research as early as your first year at Capital.
Each senior chemistry major is expected to conduct laboratory, library and Internet research and to present his or her findings in either an oral or both an oral and written format. These technical presentations for students and faculty not only allow majors the opportunity for in-depth study, but also sharpen skills that are important in career advancement. The department has its own library with many of the current journals. Students also have online access to the immense data base of OhioLink and Chemical Abstracts Service.
Where You'll Go
You'll also have the opportunity for internships at world-class, Columbus-based research facilities like Battelle, and Dow Corning, Eli Lilly and the Columbus Police Crime Lab. These internships will help you apply your chemical knowledge to practical, real-world problems, and help you enter the workforce or get into graduate school after you graduate. The record of Capital’s chemistry graduates is outstanding. More than 100 of our graduates have earned their doctorates in chemistry, while another 75 have completed work at the master’s level.
Today, our graduates are professional chemists at such corporations as:
- Dow Chemical
- Monsanto
- Upjohn
- Armco Steel
- Eli Lilly
- Proctor and Gamble
- Arco
Nearly half of Capital’s chemistry alumni who have earned their doctorates are involved in graduate-level teaching at schools like these:
- Duke University
- Penn State University
- University of Minnesota
- Case Western Reserve
- Temple University
- University of California
- U.S. Air Force Academy
- Justus Leibigs University in Giessen, Germany
Others are in research positions at government labs: Argonne National Labs, U.S.D.A., U.S. Geological Survey and the National Eye Institute. A number of chemistry graduates have continued on to medical school and are associated with institutions such as the Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins and Washington University in St. Louis. Still others are pursuing teaching careers in secondary education.