Chemistry is at the heart of modern scientific and technical inquiry — from the composition of distant stars, to geochemical transformations taking place deep within our own planet, to modern pharmaceuticals and high-performance materials, to our own bodies. Not surprisingly, chemistry is often dubbed the "central science," given it is key to advances in fields as diverse as geology, neuroscience, molecular biology, and materials science.  The Chemistry program at Skidmore College is certified by the American Chemical Society (ACS).  Students can major in Chemistry or Chemistry with a biochemistry concentration, and earn an ACS certified degree.  

In recent years, 40% of our students have gone on to graduate programs in chemistry, biochemistry, and related fields including at Harvard University, Yale University, the University of California-San Francisco, University of Michigan, and Johns Hopkins University to name a few. In addition, 30% of our students have enrolled in graduate programs in the health professions including at Boston University, Massachusetts General Hospital, SUNY Downstate, Albert Einstein, Tulane University, Howard University, Stony Brook University, and New York Institute of Technology.  The other 30% have found employment in industry, research laboratories, education, and non-profits such as Albany Molecular, eBioscience, Pfizer, Merck, Concentric, Clean Membranes, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Lincoln Laboratories-MIT, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Weill Cornell Medical College, NYU, Mount Sinai, and the New York Hall of Science.

Our 13 faculty members support them in all these paths and you can read more about them and our program here.

Goals for Student Learning

Below are the departmental learning goals mapped to College-wide goals for student learning.

In order to engage in and take responsibility for their own development to strive for excellence (IIe), each student majoring in chemistry will learn to:

Content-based

• Understand science is a systematic and inquiry-based human enterprise to better comprehend the natural world based on empirical evidence and is influenced by the cultures of its practitioners; chemistry, in particular, is the science of the composition, structures, properties, analyses, energetics, behaviors, reactions and syntheses of matter. (Ia, Ic, IVb)
• Understand and apply chemical models to describe and predict the composition, structures, properties, energetics, behaviors, mechanisms, and reactivities of matter at appropriate levels of sophistication. (Ia, Ic, IIa, IIb)
• Understand the physical basis for spectroscopic and analytical technologies as well as their appropriate uses. (Ia, IIa, IIb)
• Develop chemical models to understand nature based on empirical evidence. (Ic, IIa, IIb)
• Apply chemical knowledge and understanding to socially significant endeavors. (IIa, IIb, IIId)

Skill-based

• Use both qualitative and quantitative methods to solve chemical problems. (IIa, IIb)
• Design and conduct increasingly sophisticated chemical experiments. (Ic, IIa, IIe, IIId, IVc)
  Critically interpret, evaluate, and analyze scientific information including chemical literature and data. (Ic, IIa, IIb)
• Effectively communicate scientific information in oral, written, and visual formats to both professional and general audiences. (Ic, IIc, IVa)
• Collaborate in an inclusive manner to pursue common goals. (IId and IIIb)
• Employ responsible and ethical practices in interactions with others, experimental design, data collection and analysis, documentation, reporting, and attribution. (IIIa, IIIb, IVb)
• Assess safety concerns both in and out of the laboratory and employ best practices to address. (IIId, IVc)