Department of Chemistry

     The Chemistry Department at Georgia Southern University offers a modern chemistry program leading to a B.S. certified by the American Chemical Society. With over 400 chemistry majors, the Department ranks in the top 25 producers of ACS-certified B.S. chemistry majors nation-wide. Our ACS Student Affiliate chapter has been recognized as an Outstanding Chapter of the ACS.

     The program combines student-centered classes, broad-based laboratory instruction and opportunities for research into a comprehensive chemistry education for our students. Sound fundamental training is provided for those who plan to pursue graduate studies; work in chemical or chemical-related industry; or enter medical, dental, or other health-science professional schools.  The Department occupies a new building with well-equipped laboratories and modern instrumentation for instruction and research. Faculty members pursue research in a wide range of areas including analytical chemistry, biochemistry, carbohydrate chemistry, chemical education, food chemistry, organic synthesis and physical chemistry.

NEWS!   NEWS!   NEWS!
Chemistry Faculty Receive Awards
All of our faculty put a great deal of time and dedication to their educational, scholarly, and service activities, but it's always nice to to be able to recognize some particularly successful efforts. We are delighted to recognize that that:

Dr Laura Frost was awarded a Special Project Grant by The POGIL Project titled “Cross-Disciplinary Applications: Taking the Next Step” ($1,925). These grants provides funding to assist faculty with implementation of the POGIL approach in a variety of disciplines by facilitating collaboration between different institutions throughout the Southeastern US.

Dr Brian Koehler was named a 2009 NACADA Outstanding Advising Award Winner (Faculty-Advisor role) by the National Academic Advising Association. Dr Koehler has been working as the Chemistry Advisor in the new College of Science and Technology Advising Center since it opened two years ago, advising chemistry majors as they begin their colleg life at Georgia Southern University. There is more about the award here.


Chemistry Instructors Needed
The Department of Chemistry at GSU is currently looking to fill two Temporary Instructor positions for the 2009-10 academic year.
You can find out more by clicking on the link HERE.


2009 Chemistry Award Winners
We in Chemistry are very proud and pleased with how hard our students work and how involved they are in the activities and research of the department. While often it is difficult to select only four from many deserving majors, we would this year like to recognize the following students for their outstanding achivement and contributions to our program:

The Freshman Chemistry Award Harley R. Hendrix
The Bill Ponder Scholarship Thomas T. Eisenhart
The American Chemical Society Senior Award Nancy E. Montgomery
The American Institute of Chemists Outstanding Senior Award Alysha R. Trzecieski

 Congratulations to you all!



New Department Chair
The Department of Chemistry is pleased to announce that Dr. John DiCesare has accepted the position of Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemistry. John comes to us from the University of Tulsa and brings with him a rich background in many fields of chemistry, a phenomenal track record of working with undergraduate students in research, and a strong will to help the faculty of the department succeed in their mission as teacher-scholars. He will be a wonderful colleague in the department and we sincerely look forward to having him here with us.

Help in the Lab!
With as many students and labs as operated by a department our size it takes a great amount of effort to manage lab preparations, inventory, order chemicals, and all the other tedious tasks that must be accomplished just to get to do the Chemistry that we all enjoy. We are therefore delighted and grateful that Lindsey Parker has accepted our offer to be our new departmental Laboratory Supervisor. We know Lindsey will be a good fit with our program and a great benefit to our operations. Thanks Lindsey and welcome to the department!

We should also take this moment to thank Marion Welch and Kathy Gay for all the 'overdrive' work they put in keeping things running while we searched for someone to fill this position. Thanks to you as well.

Academic Excellence Awards
Congratulations to the faculty and students who submitted proposals for the Fall 2008 Academic Excellence Awards. Out of the six proposals selected for funding only two were for undergraduates. We offer a special congratulations to chemistry major Shea Lott and her research mentor Dr. Michele McGibony for successfully earning one of these grants to further their research on the "Biological investigations of natural products from local marine sponges”.

Chemistry Department gets 'WIRED'!

Research being conducted by Dr Shannon Davis and student Christopher Riley was cited recently in WIRED Magazine as one of the Top 5 Amazing Chemistry Projects in their article on the recent ACS meeting. This is an unusual place to see chemistry referenced, but neat to see the application chemistry research can have in the everyday lives of all people. You can see the article at this link:
http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/04/top-5-amazing-c.html.