Top 10 Reasons to Earn Your BS in Chemistry or Biochemistry at TWU
1. Knowledgeable Faculty
Our faculty members have graduate degrees from well-respected institutions of higher education. Their passion for teaching and research inspires students. The faculty to student ratio for our upper division courses is favorable, often allowing for one-on-one mentoring.
2. Curriculum with a Civic Lens
In addition to educating our students to be good scientists, we are also training them with valuable 21st-century skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, teamwork and communication. We have incorporated civic engagement and social responsibility into our majors’ curricula by connecting what we teach in class to real-world issues and exploring solutions that benefit humanity.
3. Outstanding Facilities
Our students learn the theory and practice of instrumental analysis in our state of the art chemistry laboratories. Our undergraduate teaching labs are equipped with instrumentation such as GC-MS, AA Spectrometer, UV/Vis, FT-IR and fluorescence spectrometers, a TGA/DSC, and a 90 MHz NMR spectrometer. Our research labs house a life time florescence spectrometer, a CD spectrometer with stopped flow accessory, a dynamic light scattering system, a cyclic voltammetry system, multiple DSCs, an ITC and a SERS spectrometer.
4. Undergraduate Research
Our undergraduate students participate in cutting-edge research with knowledgeable faculty. These students have opportunities to present their work at local, regional and national scientific conferences. Our students are co-authors on peer-reviewed papers published in prestigious journals such as The Journal of Physical Chemistry B, ACS Omega, Biochemical Biophysical Research Communications, and Journal of the American Chemical Society. Our research projects focus on real-world issues such as designing new smart materials, investigating the role of glutathione in human health, understanding the molecular basis of cancer, analyzing the interactions of anti-tumor drugs with DNA and developing novel drug delivery systems.
5. KEM Club
We also have an active student organization, Kappa Epsilon Mu (KEM) Club. KEM Club is the ACS student organization for our department. The goal of KEM Club is to inspire the next generation of scientists and show them the exciting aspects of chemistry. We also take interest in helping our community, along with participating in events that help emphasize the importance of chemistry. We have received various awards including Commendable Mention Award, Honorable Mention, and most recently Outstanding Award, as well as Green Chemistry Awards for ACS student affiliates from the ACS Committee on Education. Recently, KEM Club also received the 2018 TWU Redbud Award for the Outstanding Student Organization of the Year.
6. Successful Students
Our undergraduate students have gone onto Ph.D. programs at outstanding institutions such as Washington University, Duke University and the University of Alabama Birmingham and onto outstanding pharmacy and medical schools such as Belmont University and UT Medical Branch.
7. A Culture of Safety
The development of Good Laboratory Practices includes learning and using safe practices in the chemical laboratory. We have developed a culture in which safety is both a personal and social responsibility.
8. Green Chemistry
We are incorporating more environmentally sound practices into our undergraduate laboratory courses. As an example, we are adding microwave synthesis experiments into our second-year organic lab- saving time, chemical resources and energy.
9. AAC&U Recognition
The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at TWU was recognized by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) for being a national leader in incorporating civic engagement and social responsibility into our chemistry and biochemistry majors’ curriculum.
10. William E. Bennet Award for Extraordinary Contributions to Citizen Science
Faculty from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry were recently awarded the William E. Bennet Award, presented by the National Center for Science and Civic Engagement (NCSCE) for their exemplary and extraordinary efforts and activities to promote citizen science education.
Page last updated 10:54 AM, February 23, 2022