The Department
As a central and inherently multidisciplinary field, chemistry lies at the heart of some of our society’s most pressing challenges, which include securing the energy to sustainably power our society, improving human health, and maintaining our environment on a global scale. The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Delaware offers a diverse and innovative program that is dedicated to equipping the next generation of chemists, scientists, engineers, thinkers and educators with the tools they will need to tackle these 21st century challenges.
Through a combination of classroom education and front-line research endeavors, we provide our students and communities with the tools they need to help improve our world. As a historical leader in the molecular sciences, UD’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry has produced generations of academicians, research scientists working in both industrial and government settings, teachers, entrepreneurs, lawyers and policy makers. We continue to build on our history and tradition of excellence by providing our students with a breadth of educational opportunities and problem solving skills that will enable the creation of new knowledge, technologies and innovations at UD and beyond.
Honors
Our department’s faculty is both dynamic and impressive. Since our establishment, we have been shaping and defining the chemistry landscape. The impact of our contributions to research, teaching and scholarship has been recognized with numerous honors and awards, which include:
- 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- AAAS Fellows
- Allan R. Day Award, Philadelphia Organic Chemists Club
- Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellows
- American Society for Mass Spectrometry Award
- American Cancer Society Research Scholar Award
- Benjamin Y. H. Liu Award, American Association for Aerosol Research
- Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award
- Chemical Pioneer Award, American Institute of Chemists
- Cottrell Scholar Award, Research Corporation
- Delaware Section Awards, American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Dreyfus Foundation, Environmental Chemistry Fellowship
- DuPont Young Professor Awards
- Exxon Mobil Faculty Fellowship, ACS
- Field and Franklin Award for Outstanding Achievement in Mass Spectrometry, ACS
- Herbert A. Sober Award, American Society of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
- JSPS Invitation Fellowship, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
- Over 10 NSF CAREER Awards (since 2003)
- NSF Presidential Young Investigator
- Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences
- Rising Star in Chemistry, ACS Women Chemists Committee
- Royal Society of Chemistry Fellow
Research
Research in our department leverages a molecular-level perspective to deepen our fundamental understanding of natural phenomena and solve critical challenges facing our global society. With over 25 research faculty, more than 150 graduate students, dozens of undergraduate researchers, and approaching $10 million in annual research expenditures, we pursue projects that are cutting edge, far-reaching and interdisciplinary. Our research programs are focused on many issues of societal import, which include developing alternative energy solutions, investigating fundamental chemical and biological pathways critical to human health, inventing new materials and reaction technologies to create them, and defining reactions of paramount importance to the environment, among many others.
Collaborative research is central to our program; an NIH-funded Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) on Molecular Design of Advanced Biomaterials and an NIH-funded Chemistry-Biology Interface program are housed within our department, and our faculty are involved in many collaborative centers and institutes, including the UD Catalysis Center for Energy Innovation, the UD Center for Catalytic Science and Technology, the Delaware Biotechnology Institute, and the Delaware Environmental Institute, as well as national and international partnerships. These collaborations extend the impact of our work across the nation and globe. Graduate and undergraduate researchers are integral to these endeavors, and take full advantage of the multidisciplinary, collaborative research environment that transcends our department.
Teaching
Teaching is central to our mission to empower the next generation to tackle society’s biggest challenges. Because of chemistry’s central importance to science, engineering, medicine, and many other fields, we teach over 7500 students each year across UD’s campus in both our undergraduate and graduate courses. We offer Bachelor’s of Science degrees in Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Environmental Chemistry, all certified by the American Chemical Society, as well as Bachelor’s of Arts in Chemistry and Chemical Education. Each year, we proudly award approximately 60 bachelor’s degrees, in addition to about 5 Master’s and 25 doctoral degrees.
Our faculty members bring their enthusiasm and expertise in research into the classroom and utilize a variety of pedagogical techniques to maximize student learning. Our commitment to excellence in teaching is evident through our development of new curricula for the Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering (ISE) building, as well as numerous awards to both our faculty and students. Our faculty members have won prestigious University Excellence in Teaching, Excellence in Advising, and Outstanding Doctoral Graduate Student Advising and Mentoring awards. They have also been recognized as Delaware’s Professors of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation, and on the national stage with awards from the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the Pew Charitable Trust, and the Research Corporation.
Diversity & Inclusion
The Allies for a Culture of Inclusive Diversity (ACID) committee was
established in June 2019 by the UD Department of Chemistry &
Biochemistry. Learn more by visiting the ACID website.
Information
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