Greetings and welcome to the Undergraduate section of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry's website.

I would like to accomplish two things with this message; first, to provide an up to date snapshot of the Department's undergraduate program, where we are, and where we would like to go, and second, a set of links that, depending on what you are looking for, will start you on your way through the broader website.

In May, 2007, 72 Bachelor's of Science degrees in chemistry or biochemistry were awarded to University of Maryland Undergraduates. This not only reflects a steady increase in the number of graduates over the past three years, but is the largest number of BS degrees awarded by the Department in at least five years, and is something that the whole department is proud of. Our graduates are moving along to professional school, graduate school and the workplace well prepared to succeed at the next level. If you are a prospective or current student at the University of Maryland College Park and are considering majoring in Chemistry or Biochemistry, start here for an overview of the program and links to more detailed pages.

The high quality of the Department's faculty and the outstanding level of teaching and advising that our majors receive is a major reason for the steadily increasing numbers of successful majors. One aspect of that is the commitment on the part of the Department and of the College of Chemical and life Sciences to support non-research faculty whose primary role is undergraduate instruction. This past year, following nation-wide searches, three new Ph.D. level instructional faculty were hired; Michelle Brooks, who will be coordinating, developing and teaching the laboratories connected to the fourth term introductory courses (more on that below), Lee Friedman, who will be coordinating and working to upgrade the organic chemistry laboratories, and Jane Klassen, who will be teaching and upgrading the upper division physical chemistry laboratories, as well as providing input into the fourth semester lab courses. These three individuals will augment an already excellent cadre of instructional faculty consisting of Bonnie Dixon , Sohilia Ebrahimian , Maryann McDermott-Jones, Dan Steffek. Natalia White , and myself and will further improve the quality of teaching and advising provided to not only our majors but all students taking chemistry and biochemistry courses.

Almost four years ago, the department initiated the process of upgrading the introductory chemistry curriculum to better reflect not only the interests of students taking chemistry courses, but also chemistry and biochemistry in the world today (for details, click here). Following a great deal of effort on the part of virtually the entire Department (and many others outside the Department), the initial implementation of the new curriculum is complete. We believe that the approach we have adopted to teaching the first two years of chemistry will result in students who are better prepared for more advanced courses not only in chemistry but in related areas like biology, and will ultimately produce generations of citizens who are more aware of the relevance of chemistry in their day to day lives.

One area of the new curriculum that has caused some concern is how our curriculum will mesh with the previous chemistry work done by students, either transferred from another institution or from Advanced Placement credit. After spending a significant amount of time over the past couple of years evaluating transfer courses and placing incoming students into the appropriate level chemistry courses, I can say without hesitation that the new curriculum fits seamlessly with the vast majority of chemistry work done outside College Park. For information concerning transfer students, click here. For information about AP credit, click here.

In closing I would like to say that I believe that the undergraduate program in chemistry and biochemistry has increased the quality of services that we provide our students, and that the quality of the program is a reflection of the quality of not only the students choosing to major in chemistry or biochemistry, but also the Department and the College as a whole. I also firmly believe that the quality of the program will continue to improve, and that it will continue to be one that the University and the State can be proud of.

Michael Montague-Smith
Director