Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Welcome to the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Miami University. The mission of our Department is to provide an outstanding educational experience for our students. We offer a B.A. and B.S. in Chemistry and Biochemistry, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Chemistry. We have approximately 340 undergraduate majors and 60 graduate students who are mentored and supported by 26 faculty and 10 staff members. Our graduates are extremely well-prepared for careers in chemistry, biochemistry, pharmacy, medicine, dentistry, academics, and industry. Over the last 2 years, 70% of our Chemistry and Biochemistry majors were accepted into medical school. The national acceptance rate is 42%.

The Department is located in Hughes Laboratories and features several modern classrooms, laboratories, and state-of-the-art instrumentation. The Department specializes in the following areas: analytical, biochemistry, biophysical chemistry, chemistry education research, inorganic, materials, organic, and physical. We have several high field NMR spectrometers and numerous EPR spectrometers. The Structural Biology and Metabonomics Center of Excellence and the Ohio Advanced EPR lab is housed in the Department.

Chemistry and Biochemistry majors get to expand their education by participating in undergraduate research programs. The undergraduate research experience in our department at Miami is distinctly different from other institutions. Large public universities typically are not focused on undergraduate research at all. They emphasize research mostly at the graduate and postdoctoral levels. This is not true in our department where faculty members directly mentor undergraduates. Faculty care about undergraduate research because it is essential to a well-rounded education. Students need to learn in an environment outside of the traditional classroom and apply what they learn from a textbook or lecture to solve real world problems. Undergraduate research provides students valuable training and experiences that will help them succeed in their future endeavors.

Whether you are a current student, prospective student, alumnus, or just interested in learning more about our department, I invite you to explore the outstanding opportunities offered by the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department on this webpage.

Gary A. Lorigan
Professor and Chair

Housed in Hughes Laboratories, the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department offers personal education in modern classrooms and laboratories, with opportunities for cutting-edge research on state-of-the-art highly specialized instrumentation, including 200-850 MHz NMR spectrometers, x-ray diffractometers, and the Ohio Advanced EPR Lab.

Our department is deeply committed to Miami University's efforts to offer "the best undergraduate experience in the nation" and we offer a large breadth of chemistry instruction and research in the following areas:

• Analytical chemistry
• Biochemistry and structural biology
• Chemistry education research
• Inorganic chemistry
• Materials/nanotechnology
• Organic chemistry
• Physical and biophysical chemistry

Our faculty delivers outstanding in-class instruction and rigorous curriculum while also being committed to providing excellent out-of-class opportunities. Independent research is strongly encouraged for all undergraduate majors and our faculty members are dedicated to mentoring both undergraduate and graduate students on a variety of research projects.

In collaboration with our Alumni Board and the Center for Career Exploration & Success, we connect students with meaningful internship opportunities to apply their learning gains and advance their career aspirations.

Many of our faculty members rank among the top of their field with respect to publications, and undergraduates are routinely included as co-authors on papers as a result of their outstanding research efforts. Our Chemistry/Biochemistry majors are frequent recipients of University awards and scholarships including University Summer Scholarships (USS), Dean’s scholars, and undergraduate research awards. Our majors routinely appear on the Dean’s list, President’s List, and earn Department and University Honors upon graduation. Undergraduates in the Department have been awarded prestigious accolades from external foundations and funding agencies such as the Beckman Scholar, Goldwater Scholar, and Astronaut Scholar awards, predoctoral fellowships from the National Science Foundation, and American Chemical Society Scholar awards.