Welcome

Welcome to the chemistry department at Mount Holyoke College!

Did you know that Mount Holyoke College has a long tradition of educating women chemists? Mount Holyoke is the alma mater of more Ph.D. women chemists than any other institution in the country. As of the early 1990s, despite our small size of about 1900 students, one in four women chemists received her bachelor’s degree from Mount Holyoke. Even with growing educational opportunities for women, a recent NSF study of women doctorate recipients by baccalaureate institutions ranks Mount Holyoke first among all selective liberal arts colleges in producing women who went on to receive Ph.D.s in the life and physical sciences (in the period 1966-2001). One quarter of our students major in the sciences or mathematics, twice the number of women majoring in these areas at comparable co-educational institutions.

The department is housed in a recently completed integrated science center, representing a $35 million dollar commitment to the education of women in the sciences. Modern teaching and research laboratories, and an extraordinary depth and breadth of modern instrumentation, provide the backdrop to an energetic and diverse department. Tracing its origins to the pioneering spectroscopic work of Emma Perry Carr and Lucy Pickett, the collaboration of our faculty with undergraduates on research projects remains a key element of departmental life. A vibrant summer research program, heavily supported by both federal and private foundation grants, enrolls significant numbers of students each year, many of whom continue their investigations as independent study during the teaching semesters. At present, Mount Holyoke’s chemistry department is among the best funded small college science departments in the nation, with a correspondingly high output of high quality publications, and students prepared to enter graduate school.

Chemistry and biochemistry majors benefit from close interactions with both faculty and other students throughout their college careers, particularly in upper level courses where enrollments are kept low. In the form of our Peer-Led Undergraduate Mentoring System (PLUMS), experienced chemistry and biochemistry majors run intensive workshops for both general and organic chemistry in support of faculty teaching. Majors can also gain valuable teaching experience, and reinforce their understanding, by serving as laboratory teaching assistants, instrumentation technicians, graders, and individual tutors. Our extensive alumnae network has proven invaluable to majors when locating summer internships and, looking to the future, employment opportunities.