Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Build the Foundation for Your Career in Chemistry

Chemistry plays a central role in the most exciting and critical areas of modern scientific exploration. Wilkes biochemistry and chemistry majors receive a solid foundation in chemical theories and laboratory techniques, preparing them for a range of career opportunities in chemical or pharmaceutical industries, government laboratories and academia.

Our Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry has well-equipped laboratory facilities and exceptional chemical instrumentation. The use of chemical instrumentation is integrated into the curriculum beginning in your first year. The department possesses a wide range of modern spectroscopic and separations instruments, thermal analysis facilities, and routine equipment for synthesis and analysis.

Opportunities

Within our department, you will find ample opportunity to participate in research at Wilkes. Majors are required to complete a capstone senior research project. However, students can begin their involvement in an original research project as early as their first year. Students can participate as volunteers, paid technicians, interns, or through enrollment in independent studies.

Independent Study

Independent study allows students to collaborate in novel projects with many related disciplines, such as biology, pharmacy, computer science, and others. A wide range of research topics is currently being explored within the department. Ongoing and planned projects include organic synthesis, biochemical investigations (enzymology and pharmaceutical applications), materials science (amorphous alloy production and characterization), analytical chemistry, and computational chemistry.

Off-Campus Opportunities

In addition to the on-campus opportunities offered by the faculty, the chemistry department also encourages student participation in a variety of off-campus activities such as summer research internships or a semester-abroad. Recently, students spent their summers at Sanofi and Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Graduate School & Employment

The department maintains an outstanding record of placement in graduate and medical programs across the country. Recent graduates have been awarded fellowships and scholarships for doctoral work at Columbia, MIT, Vanderbilt and others. Other majors have taken research positions in a variety of industrial and government laboratories.

100%

of department majors complete a senior research project.

400

megahertz nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer – the largest in the region.

72,000

square feet for experiential learning in the Cohen Science Center.

The highlight of my time at Wilkes has been all the research and laboratory experience I have gained. I have had the wonderful opportunity of working on multiple research projects and running various instruments that I would never get to use as an undergraduate at another institution.

Nicholas Fitzpatrick ’19, Chemistry major

Chemical Instruments & Stockroom

The Department maintains a large inventory of lab equipment and routinely used chemical items.

Equipment includes:

  • High Pressure Liquid Chromatography
  • FT-NMR Spectroscopy
  • FT-IR and UV-VIS Spectroscopy
  • Fluorescence Spectroscopy
  • Thermogravimetic Analysis
  • Differential Scanning Calorimetry
  • Stopped-Flow Apparatus

Chemical Library

The department houses computer equipment for online to the ACS Archives and many other scientific online journals. Additional library resources are available at Wilkes University's Farley Library.

Learn More about the Library

Catherine H. Bone Lecture Series

The Catherine H. Bone lecture in chemistry is hosted by the Department of Chemistry. It is made possible by the endowments left by Catherine H. Bone, who taught chemistry at Wilkes from 1946-1965.

Stark Learning Center on campus