Welcome to the Department of Chemistry at the University of Chicago.
Chemistry was among the first departments established at the University, and from its earliest years the Department has joined ambitious scientific research with a deep commitment to education. That tradition has produced discoveries of lasting importance and generations of scientists who have shaped chemistry and related fields. Nineteen people associated with the University of Chicago have received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. That culture continues today in a faculty that includes Nobel laureate Jack Szostak, whose discoveries were recognized with the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. This extraordinary legacy both honors our past and challenges us to continue advancing the frontiers of science.
Today, our faculty pursue research across catalysis, organic chemistry, chemical biology, inorganic chemistry, biophysics, materials chemistry, physical chemistry, and theoretical chemistry. At Chicago, these areas are not separated by rigid boundaries. Our proximity and close connections to the Department of Physics, the James Franck Institute, the Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, the Therapeutics Discovery Institute, and the University of Chicago Medicine create exceptional opportunities to bring together chemistry, physics, biology, engineering, and medicine. The Department is also home to three Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators, reflecting the strength and influence of our research at the interface of chemistry and biology.
These institutional connections are matched by a culture of collaboration. Our faculty, students, and postdoctoral researchers work across departments and divisions, with colleagues at the University’s medical center and molecular engineering programs, and with scientists at Argonne National Laboratory. By combining different ideas, experimental capabilities, and theoretical perspectives, they address fundamental scientific questions and create new approaches to challenges in health, energy, materials, and technology.
Education is central to our mission. Undergraduates may pursue degrees in Chemistry or Biological Chemistry, participate directly in faculty research, and undertake advanced study through our joint BS/MS program. Our MS and PhD programs provide rigorous but flexible preparation, allowing students to develop scientific independence, explore connections across disciplines, and define research programs shaped by their own interests and ambitions. Close interaction among students, postdoctoral researchers, faculty, and staff remains one of the Department’s defining strengths.
Our research and teaching extend across the Gordon Center for Integrative Science, Searle Chemistry Laboratory, George Herbert Jones Laboratory, and Kent Chemical Laboratory. Departmental and University facilities provide access to advanced capabilities in nuclear magnetic resonance, mass spectrometry, X-ray diffraction, nanofabrication, microscopy, computation, and materials characterization. Equally important, the physical concentration of researchers from chemistry, physics, biology, molecular engineering, and medicine encourages frequent interaction and the formation of collaborations that cross traditional disciplinary lines.
The strength of this Department ultimately rests with its people: faculty who pursue bold ideas, students and postdoctoral researchers who bring energy and creativity to our laboratories and classrooms, staff whose expertise makes our work possible, and alumni and friends who extend the Department’s influence throughout science and society.
As Chair, I am committed to building upon this extraordinary foundation—supporting excellent research and teaching, developing the next generation of scientific leaders, strengthening the intellectual connections that distinguish the University of Chicago, and ensuring that our Department continues to shape the future of chemistry.
Greg Engel
Chair, Department of Chemistry