BA in Chemistry

Chemistry

With a chemistry major or minor, the possibilities are limitless. From continuing the study of chemistry at the graduate level, obtaining a job in the chemical or pharmaceutical industries, or to providing a firm foundation for a career in the health professions, the chemistry department at Concordia College is your gateway to the future.

The Concordia College chemistry department prides itself on providing a first-class education for all students in both the classroom and laboratory. Chemistry also works hard in offering a wide range of opportunities beyond the classroom from research with faculty to internships and beyond. The department possesses a state-of-the-art instrumental laboratory and a cutting-edge laser facility for spectroscopy research, both of which are utilized extensively in both teaching and a range of faculty research.

The department offers both a standard chemistry major and an American Chemical Society-certified major with optional specializations in neurochemistry and biochemistry. Several chemistry faculty members are also actively involved in the neuroscience program, a novel interdisciplinary area which draws extensively from chemistry, biology, and psychology.

Faculty Research

Whether it is during the academic year or the summer, many of the chemistry faculty are actively involved in cutting-edge research. Areas under study range from noisy light spectroscopy, corrosion inhibition, degradation of environmental pharmaceutical contaminants and developing green synthetic routes to new pharmaceutical molecules.

Teaching While You Learn

From making oobleck (cornstarch and water) to watching their hair stand on end by touching a Van de Graaff generator, kids love to know how things work. Through the chemistry department’s Science Academy, Concordia students go into the community and show elementary school students some fun hands-on answers.

Research

Faculty and students working together on research is one of Concordia’s hallmarks, and the chemistry department backs up these opportunities 100 percent.

• Research Experiences for Undergraduates – students are accepted to major universities across the country.
• Summer Research Program – patterned after the esteemed REU program, students do hands-on research with faculty, can participate in presentations and discussions and even have a bit of fun at social events with other students.
• Authoring Pages – Students regularly appear as co-authors with faculty on papers in prestigious peer-reviewed scientific journals.

After Concordia

Concordia chemistry students are going to outstanding graduate schools across the country – Cornell, MIT, Creighton, and USC to name a few. They’re studying dentistry, pharmacy, medicine, and physical, analytical, organic and inorganic chemistry. Recent grads are working at a forensic crime lab in Chicago, the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colo., and the Hennepin County Medical Center as an AIDS pharmacist.