Welcome to the Department of Chemistry
Welcome!
It’s an exciting time for the Department of Chemistry at Washington State University; grant support is now over $7 million dollars, an increase of 100% in the last 10 years. Our Ph.D. training program has also grown over the same time period with approximately 90 Ph.D. students working in Chemistry this year. Our faculty demographic is also evolving with younger faculty replacing those near the end of their careers. Research is at the forefront of our success, and we are dedicated to providing the facilities and support necessary for major advancements in fundamental and applied science within our three departmental focus areas.
Who we are
The Chemistry Department currently has 21 tenure/tenure-track faculty positions with 11 career-track faculty. Of the 21 tenure/tenure-track faculty, 25% are new hires at all ranks that have joined our department within the past 5 years. Our faculty are recognized leaders in their fields and are at the forefront of technological innovation and fundamental scientific breakthroughs.
Our faculty members have been awarded patents for new technologies, and they are consistently recognized by their peers for significant contributions to scientific discovery and dedication to chemistry education. Such awards include Olin-Garvan Medal for the ACS (Sue Clark) , the Chinese-American Chemistry & Chemical Biology Professors Association Distinguished Faculty Award (Ming Xian), Gauss Professor, Göttingen Academy of Sciences, Göttingen, Germany (Peterson), five Fellows of the American Chemical Society (Hipps, Mazur, A. Clark, S. Clark, and Peterson), two fellows of the American Physical Society (Hipps and Peterson), five Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (A. Clark, S. Clark, Hipps, Mazur, Peterson), and a Fellow of the American Vacuum Society (Hipps).
Research in the department is often featured in cover articles in high-impact journals including the Journal of the American Chemical Society, the Journal of Physical Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, and the Journal of Mass Spectrometry.
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Departmental Focus Areas
The faculty has identified three multidisciplinary areas for developing our programs:
These areas take advantage of current departmental strengths (expertise and instrumentation) and represent a path forward to our continued expansion and growth. Traditional divisions of chemistry also flourish under the banner of our focus areas.
Facilities and Support
Our facilities and support staff will do their best to help you succeed. The following state-of-the-art instrumentation is available to faculty and students in support of their research needs:
- Surface Analysis Laboratory housed in chemistry
- Nanoscale imaging laboratory housed within chemistry
- Franceschi Microscopy & Imaging Center
- Laboratory for Biotechnology and Bioanalysis (LBB1)
- X-Ray Crystallography
- Geoanalytical Laboratory
- Nuclear Science Center
- Center for NMR Spectroscopy
- The Water Research Center
- Science Library
- Technical Services
- Stockroom
How you can help
Are you interested in performing cutting-edge research in a collegiate environment, using state-of-the-art equipment, and lots of one-on-one time with an expert in the field? There are many research opportunities at both the graduate and undergraduate level. Enthusiastic, dedicated, research assistants and students are at the heart of our continued success.
Troy Hall Renovation
“Troy Hall, a shuttered 1920s dairy science building – once home to the WSU Creamery and Ferdinand’s Ice
Cream Shoppe – has been remade into a modern interdisciplinary science education and research facility for the
Department of Chemistry and the School of the Environment to respond to the demand for STEM program area.”
Drs. Herb & Jannette Hill Travel Scholarship
“Please give today to this fund that honors Herb Hill’s 41 years of service to the Department of Chemistry and to the impact he has had in the lives and careers of his many students during his career. This endowment will provide funds to support students traveling to major scientific meetings to share their research. The Hills both recognize that presenting research and networking with future colleagues at professional conferences are critical components of a student’s education.”
Donate Here
When you make a gift to the Department of Chemistry, you play a critical role in sustaining excellence in higher education.
Your support allows us to continue to innovate, advance student and faculty research and scholarship, and provide top-quality chemistry education that prepare students for both lifelong learning and the complex world of work.
Picture Yourself in Pullman!
The Graduate School at Washington State University invites you to explore the exciting life of a graduate student in Pullman, WA.