Chemistry Degree
Bachelor of Science in Chemistry
A major in Chemistry leading to a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree prepares students for industry, graduate school or professional school (including medicine, dentistry, and veterinary medicine). This is achieved through a broad-based education that includes exposure to major areas of chemistry including analytical, biochemistry, inorganic, organic and physical. In both the classroom setting and in the laboratory, students will interact directly with our faculty, taking advantage of our small student to faculty ratio. Students interested in earning a teaching certificate in secondary education in Chemistry may follow the approved sequence leading to initial teacher certification offered by our Education Programs Department. The B.S. in chemistry is the best choice for a major for those planning to teach chemistry at the secondary level. Students interested in teaching science at the middle school level need a variety of science courses, including chemistry. Please contact our Education Programs Department for additional information.
The Student Experience at Albertus Magnus
Dr. Patricia Compagnone-Post, a professor of Biology, sits down with Albertus Magnus College President Dr. Marc Camille to discuss the Science Department.
Science at Albertus
The sciences here at Albertus go back to the early days of our history. In 1927 Marcella O’Grady Boveri arrived at this fledgling college to establish a department of science. Her background was amazing for a woman of her time: she was, in 1885, the first woman to graduate from Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a concentration in biology; she studied comparative zoology and embryology at Bryn Mawr; and by 1893 she had become a full professor at Vassar. Three years later, she was admitted to study science at the University of Wurzburg in Germany, the first woman ever granted acceptance to the science program there. At Wurzburg, she studied with Theodor Boveri, director of the Zoological–Zootomical Institute and one of the world’s first cancer researchers. They married in 1897 and worked together on the chromosome theory of cancer until his death in 1915.
Marcella Boveri remained in Germany until 1926 when she returned to the United States for what was supposed to be just a brief visit: however, fortuitously for Albertus, she learned from a friend who was married to a former Yale University dean that the new liberal arts college in New Haven was looking for a woman of distinction to create and run its science department. When her contacts at Yale assured her that the resources of its Osborn Zoological Laboratory and Yale libraries would be available to her, she accepted the offer from Albertus. Marcella Boveri remained at Albertus until she retired in 1943; she died in October 1950.
Where Will Your Degree Take You?
Chemistry Engineering
Chemical Health and Safety
Water Chemistry
Forensic Chemistry
Chemical Information Management Specialist
Crystallography
Chemistry Major (32 credits)
Required Chemistry Courses
Chemistry Minor (24 credits)
Students wishing to complete a minor in Chemistry are required to take:
Required Correlatives: (21 credits)
Additional electives may be selected from Biology or Chemistry courses.