Chemistry BA

Major: Chemistry
Degree Awarded: Bachelor of Arts (BA)
Calendar Type: Quarter
Minimum Required Credits: 184.0
Co-op Options: One Co-op (Four years)
Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code: 40.0501
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code: 19-2031

About the Program

The BA in Chemistry is designed for students who want a foundational education in chemistry and the flexibility to select courses in other fields. The Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry program is less demanding mathematically compared to the Bachelor of Science, and is well suited for those interested in entering medical school and other chemistry-related fields, as well as those aspiring to careers in biotechnology, forensic chemistry, and environmental chemistry. It is also well suited for students who are interested in double majoring. BA in Chemistry graduates might opt to work as laboratory technicians in the pharmaceutical industry, as research assistants in medical school science departments, such as toxicology or biochemistry, or as technicians in biotechnology and forensic firms.

Additional Information

For more information about the major in Chemistry, contact:

Daniel King, PhD
Undergraduate Affairs Committee Chair
Department of Chemistry
Drexel University
dk68@drexel.edu

Degree Requirements (BA) 

*

Categories of Electives:

• Humanities and Arts Electives
  Designated courses in art, art history, communication studies, foreign languages (300-level or above), history, literature, music, philosophy, religion, and theatre arts.
• International Electives
  Designated courses in anthropology, art history, history, literature, music, politics and sociology. Courses with an international focus may be used to fulfill requirements in other categories as well.
• Language Requirement
  Students may satisfy the language course requirements in two ways: (1) complete at least 8.0 credits of a foreign language at Drexel and, at minimum, must complete the 103 level of the target language (or beyond if they place higher); or (2) take 12.0 credits of a computer language over two terms.
• Social and Behavioral Studies Electives
  Designated courses in anthropology, criminal justice, economics, international relations, history, politics, psychology and sociology.
• Studies in Diversity Electives
  Africana studies, women's studies or designated cross-listed courses in anthropology, art, art history, history, literature, music, philosophy, politics and sociology.

**

Courses with CHEM prefix, although ENVS chemistry courses can also fulfill this requirement (with Department approval).

***

The total number of free elective credits depends on the number of credits required to fulfill the language requirement.

Writing-Intensive Course Requirements

In order to graduate, all students must pass three writing-intensive courses after their freshman year. Two writing-intensive courses must be in a student's major. The third can be in any discipline. Students are advised to take one writing-intensive class each year, beginning with the sophomore year, and to avoid “clustering” these courses near the end of their matriculation. Transfer students need to meet with an academic advisor to review the number of writing-intensive courses required to graduate.

A "WI" next to a course in this catalog may indicate that this course can fulfill a writing-intensive requirement. For the most up-to-date list of writing-intensive courses being offered, students should check the Writing Intensive Course List at the University Writing Program. Students scheduling their courses can also conduct a search for courses with the attribute "WI" to bring up a list of all writing-intensive courses available that term.

Sample Plan of Study (BA) 

4 year, 1 co-op

*

COOP 101 registration is determined by the co-op cycle assigned and may be scheduled in a different term. Select students may be eligible to take COOP 001 in place of COOP 101.

Co-op/Career Opportunities

The high concentration of pharmaceutical and chemical firms in the Philadelphia area provides a wide range of co-op and professional opportunities, in addition to co-ops across the country and abroad. Opportunities for Chemistry majors include working in research and development in corporate and government laboratories in the chemical, pharmaceutical, and agricultural (e.g., U.S. Department of Agriculture) sectors. Other options include entering medical, dental, law, or other professional schools. The major in Chemistry is sufficiently flexible to allow students to prepare to teach at the secondary level. With proper selection of electives, students can meet teacher certification requirements.

Sample Co-op Opportunities

A four-year, one co-op degree is offered. When students complete their co-op job, they are asked to write an overview of their experience. These brief quotes are taken from some recent student reports:

Assistant chemist, pharmaceuticals manufacturer: “My position involved the synthesis and characterization of target compounds in the endotheline project. Involved the development of synthetic roots to the prescribed target. This would include the investigation of reactions which were going to be used...the position was very independent...great working environment. ”

Co-op chemist, petroleum refiner: “Performed synthesis of ligands and metal complexes. Operated FT-IR spectrometer for sample analysis. Submitted samples for analysis by mass spectrometer and NMR...The position allowed me to develop the skills necessary for independent research in organic synthesis. ”

Assistant lab technician, pharmaceuticals manufacturer: “I was an assistant technician in a mass spectrometry lab...I was responsible for the development of SDS-gel electrophoresis techniques for gels and gel membranes...I developed the methods independently and my employer encouraged me to be an expert on the technique and explore any method I found that would benefit the lab. ”

Visit the Drexel Steinbright Career Development Center page for more detailed information on co-op and post-graduate opportunities.

Facilities

There are nine undergraduate teaching laboratories in the department: three Freshman Chemistry labs, three Organic Chemistry labs, a Physical Chemistry lab, an Analytical Instrumentation Laboratory, and a combined Analytical/Inorganic Chemistry lab.

Mass Spectrometry Facility
The department maintains a professionally supervised Mass Spectrometry Facility (located in Stratton 406) available to all members of the Drexel University community. Currently operating instrumentation consists of a Bruker Autoflex III matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer (NSF CRIF-MU #0840273), a Bruker Ultraflex III MALDI TOF-TOF MS (NSF MRI #0820996 donated from the U PA Chemistry Department, located in Stratton 142), a Micromass Q-TOF Premier equipped with both electrospray ionization (ESI) and atmospheric-pressure chemical ionization (APCI) sources and a 2998 diode array detector (DAD), a Micromass Quattro Micro triple-quadrupole MS instrument equipped with an ESI source and a 2996 DAD, and a Waters ZQ single-quadrupole instrument with both ESI and APCI capability. The three Micromass instruments are each interfaced with a Waters Alliance model 2695 high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) system. The Facility also includes a Waters Xevo G2 Q-TOF equipped with both ESI) and APCI sources and a Waters Aquity UPLC system and a manufacturer refurbished Thermo-Electron, Inc. Q-Exactive Orbitrap Mass Spectrometer equipped with both ESI and APCI sources interfaced to a Vanquish Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography (UPLC) system. The laboratory also houses a Sciex PACE MDQ Plus capillary electrophoresis system. Samples for MS analysis may be submitted for analysis or users may be trained in operation of the instruments for use in long-term projects.

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Facility
The professionally staffed Chemistry department NMR facility is equipped with a 400 MHz Varian Mercury Plus and a 500 MHz Unity INOVA. The 400 MHz NMR is actively shielded and equipped with an AutoSwitchable broadband probe (1H/19F/13C/31P,1H/19F/{15N-31P}) and the 500 MHz NMR is equipped with a triple resonance probe (1H/{13C/15N}). Both magnets are connected to a Cryomech helium recovery system.

Analytical Instrumentation Laboratory (AIL)
The professionally supervised Chemistry Department Analytical Instrumentation Laboratory is equipped with the usual array of open-access chemical analysis instrumentation, including: (in Disque 407) a Thermo Scientific Nanodrop One microvolume UV-visible spectrometer, a Shimadzu UV-1900 UV/visible absorption spectrometer, a Shimadzu UV-2600 UV/visible absorption spectrometer equipped with a Quantum Northwest temperature controller, a Shimadzu UV-3600 UV/visible/NIR absorption spectrometer with a 120mm diameter diffuse-reflectance integrating sphere, a Jasco J-1500 circular dichroism spectrometer, a Shimadzu Tracer-100 Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) absorption spectrometer, a Shimadzu AIM-9000 FTIR Microscope system (including beamsplitters for near- mid- and far-IR capability), a Shimadzu RF-6000 fluorescence spectrophotometer, a Shimadzu SALD-7500 nano particle size analyzer, a Shimadzu Prominence-i LC-2030C 3D Plus HPLC (with both UV-visible diode array and refractive index detectors), a Shimadzu Nexera X2 Prominence modular ultraperformance liquid chromatograph (UPLC) equipped with a FRC-10A fraction collector, a SPD-M20A DAD and a Sedex 90 evaporative light scattering detector, a Shimadzu 8050 triple quadrupole LC-MS system including a Prominence binary HPLC pump and a SPD-M20A DAD, a Shimadzu Nexis GC-2030 capillary-column gas chromatograph (GC) equipped w/AOC-20i Plus Auto-injector/AOC-20s Plus Auto-sampler System, a Shimadzu GC-2010+ capillary-column GC Shimadzu GC-MS QP-2020 GC/MS system w/AOC-6000 Autosampler, and a Shimadzu AA7000 flame atomic absorption spectrometer equipped with a GFA-7000A graphite-furnace accessory and a ASC-7000 auto-sampler capable of either macro or micro-sampling (between 5-90 uL of sample required).

Organic Instrumentation Laboratory
The Department Organic Instrumentation Laboratory (located in the Papadakis Integrated Sciences Building 502) is equipped with two PE Clarus 500 capillary-column GCs (one with dual flame ionization detectors, FIDs), the other with one FID and a thermal conductivity detector (TCD), two PE Spectrum 2 FTIRs, each equipped with a diamond ATR, a PE model 343 polarimeter, a CEM model X microwave synthesis system, an Anasazi, Inc. EFT-90 90MHz NMR with both C-13 and H-1 capability, and an Advion Expression Compact Mass Spectrometer (CMS) with ESI and APCI capability.

Vibrational Spectroscopy Laboratory
The Department Vibrational Spectroscopy Laboratory (located in Disque 112) is equipped with a PE Spectrum One FTIR (also equipped with a universal diamond ATR and transmission sampling accessories), a Horiba LB500 Dynamic Light Scattering Spectrometer with Peltier Temperature Controller, and a Renishaw Invia Raman Microscope system (equipped with three laser wavelengths: 514.5nm, 632.8nm and 785nm).

Analytical/Inorganic Teaching Laboratory
The Analytical/Inorganic Teaching Laboratory (located in Disque 409) is equipped with a Perkin-Elmer (PE) Spectrum One FTIR (equipped with a universal diamond ATR and transmission sampling accessories), a PE LS55B Luminescence spectrometer, a PE Lambda-2 UV/visible spectrometer, a BAS Epsilon Eclipse system with a RDE-2 rotating disk electrode head, a UCT Inc., Positive Pressure Manifold (for performing solid phase extraction), and a Biotage Turbo-Vac LV Concentration workstation.

Microscopy Laboratory
The department Microscopy Laboratory (located in Stratton 416) is equipped with a Leica DM IRBE Inverted Fluorescence Microscope, a Zeiss EpiFluorescence III RS Microscope, and a Bruker (formerly Veeco Metrology, Inc.), Multimode NanoScope IIId SPM System which performs all major SPM imaging techniques including contact and non-contact atomic force, lateral force, TappingMode (air), magnetic force and electric force microscopy. Additional instrumentation located there include a PE Lambda-950 UV/visible/NIR spectrometer equipped with a Labsphere, Inc., 60mm diameter diffuse-reflectance integrating sphere, A Camag Reprostart 3 Gel Imaging System, a Thermo Scientific (formerly Nicolet) 6700 FT-IR/Raman spectrometer, an ISS Chronos DFD fluorescence lifetime spectrometer with three laser sources and an ISS T-format steady-state fluorescence polarization spectrometer.

Polymer Analysis Laboratory
The Department Polymer Analysis Laboratory (located in Disque 210) is equipped with a Brookfield DV-II+ Pro Viscometer with cone/plate capabilities, a Brookfield CAP 2000+ viscometer, a Mettler-Toledo Thermal Gravimetric Analyzer/Differential Scanning Calorimeter (TGA/DSC) Star system, a Mettler-Toledo Polymer DSC system, and a modular Gel Permeation Chromatography system composed of a Waters 515 HPLC pump, 2414 refractive index detector and 2487 dual wavelength absorbance detector.

Program Level Outcomes

Chemistry Faculty

Emeritus Faculty