Chemistry

Majors & Courses

The Department encourages students to combine courses in Chemistry with those in other departments—such as Biology, Mathematics, Physics, Economics, Exercise Science and Physical Education, and Political Science — to develop programs which will provide broad awareness consistent with the McDaniel’s liberal arts and sciences philosophy.

Undergraduate Major

• Chemistry Major
• Biochemistry Major
• Chemistry — Exercise Science & Physical Education (Exercise Chemistry) Dual Major
• Chemistry — Specialization in American Chemical Society

Undergraduate Minor

• Chemistry Major with Education Minor
  • Elementary level (grades 1-6) Certification (MD)
  • Secondary level (grades 7-12) Certification (MD)
• Chemistry Minor

Faculty

Meet the professors of McDaniel’s Chemistry Department, all of whom are full-time.

Professor and department chair Richard Smith

(Ph.D., University of Virginia), is a teacher and researcher who collaborates with students on such diverse topics as computational and experimental studies in the mechanism of action of anti-AIDS and cancer chemotherapeutic agents as well as the genealogy and documentation of names of people buried in Maryland’s African-American cemeteries and teaches various courses in Organic Chemistry and a special course, Trees on the Hill: The Science of Wood.

Associate Professor Peter Craig

(Ph.D., University of Auckland), is an expert in metalloproteins and materials, who studies with his students ways to contain the environmental spread of heavy metals and treat poisoning of contaminated people and animals and teaches courses in Chemical Reactions, Metalloproteins and Materials and The Science of Cooking. 

Associate Professor Melanie Nilsson

(Ph.D., State University of New York at Stony Brook), teaches Biochemistry and Physical Chemistry, while including her students in her research in the biochemistry of the diseases of aging, including Alzheimer’s, and most recently studies she and Environmental Studies professor Mona Becker are conducting on several Lakota reservations in South Dakota to explore academic and service-learning opportunities.

Visiting Assistant Professor Marilyn Smith

(Ph.D., University of Nebraska), researches and publishes on topics in medicinal chemistry as well as applied and computational chemistry, particularly the application of computational methods to drug design, when she isn’t in the classroom teaching Forensic Chemistry or mentoring the department’s senior capstone projects.

Associate Professor Brian D. Wladkowski

(Ph.D., Stanford University), teaches Physical Chemistry and conducts research with his students in computational studies of enzyme reaction mechanisms and has spearheaded, with his students, groundbreaking research in various aspects of the conversion of waste cooking oil to biodiesel fuel and its usage.

Student Awards

Resources

The Chemistry faculty counsel each of its students carefully in order to ensure that each takes the courses which will best meet expected career goals. Opportunities exist for internships, research, and/or employment to give students practical experience in Chemistry and allied fields. Extensive use is made of off-campus internships and on-campus summer research assistantships to give students practical experience in their chosen profession.

Recent internships have ranged from participation as research assistants in the genomics lab at the National Cancer Institute to shadowing physicians in the Emergency Department of a nearby full-service hospital.

A sample of recent student-faculty research collaboration includes:

McDaniel’s chapter of Gamma Sigma Epsilon, the national honor society in Chemistry, was established in 2003. Membership in Gamma Sigma Epsilon requires students to successfully complete 20 hours of chemistry courses with a minimum GPA of 3.0 in both Chemistry and general coursework. The chapter hosts guest speakers including accomplished alumni.

Graduating senior majors in the Chemistry Department participate in an annual “Signing of the Ladder” tradition. Dating back to the early 1980’s, students signed the ladder that was use in the Chemistry Seminar Room to retrieve journals stored on high shelves surrounding the room. The seminar room is gone, but the ladder and its tradition survive. Alumni often revisit the ladder to show family and friends where they signed.