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     Selective Investment 1999 Award Recipients

Introduction
Chemistry
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Selective Investment Committee























 

The Department of Chemistry will use its Selective Investment Award to:

• Recruit four outstanding senior faculty members over the next four years, providing demographic balance to a young department, senior leadership, and mentoring of young faculty;

• Attain top 10 graduate program status in the nation by 2009;

• Recruit established leaders and "rising stars" (as defined by the Research Commission) with large, well funded research groups; and

• Welcome the first of these individuals, Professor Malcolm Chisholm, to The Ohio State University. Professor Chisholm, a Fellow of the Royal Society, will join the faculty on January 1, 2000.

 		 

Department of Chemistry
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The Department of Chemistry at The Ohio State University is internationally recognized as a center of scholarship and research. As one of 10 original departments at The Ohio State University, it has a long and proud history in the education of students at all levels.

Bruce Bursten, Chair, Department of Chemistry

According to the Registrar’s Office, 6,829 baccalaureate degrees were awarded by The Ohio State University during the 97-98 academic year. Of that number, 3,224 (47%) had taken at least one chemistry course at Ohio State. During the same period, 801 Honors students received degrees. Of that number, 453 (57%) took at least one course in the Department of Chemistry at The Ohio State University. In a typical quarter, approximately 34 faculty members work with about 3,500 students at the 100-level, 1,200 students at the 200-level, 200 undergraduate chemistry majors, 217 graduate students, 38 post doctoral researchers, and usually a few visiting professors. Thus, Selective Investment in Chemistry will have a huge impact on the quality of education that The Ohio State University undergraduate population receives.

One measure of the success of this comprehensive program in chemistry is the rankings by external agencies. In the 1998 Gourman Report of undergraduate programs, Ohio State’s Department of Chemisty ranked 17th out of 555 institutions–the top 3%. The second best chemistry department in the state ranked 51st in this report. Not surprisingly, the faculty of the Department of Chemistry includes eight winners of the OSU Distinguished Scholar Award, four winners of the OSU Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching, and three recipients of the Arts and Sciences Student Council Outstanding Teaching Award.

Mathew Platz, Former Chair, Department of Chemistry

The quality of the faculty is also crucial to the strength of our graduate program and is easily documented. At the present time there are 12 Distinguished University Professors (DUPs) on campus, which includes the previously awarded University and Presidential Professorships. Of this elite group, three are faculty members in the Department of Chemistry. These individuals serve on the President’s and Provost’s Advisory Committee (PPAC) along with chemistry’s two Ohio Eminent Scholars. Of the total 23 members of the PPAC, five are faculty members in the Department of Chemistry. Three faculty members in the Department of Chemistry have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences during their careers at Ohio State. The Sullivant Medal, awarded every five years beginning in 1924, is the highest honor Ohio State bestows on its faculty, staff, or alumni. The Medal has been awarded twice to members of the chemistry faculty and once to a chemistry Ph.D. alumnus.

A strong faculty leads to a highly rated graduate program. In the 1994 National Research Council (NRC) report, Ohio State’s Department of Chemistry was rated as 22nd out of 168 graduate programs. Chemistry has one of the best (13th) percentile rankings on the Ohio State campus. The Statewide Doctoral Program Review, in its report of March 1997 by the Ohio Board of Regents states that chemistry’s graduate program is "comprehensive" and "competitive with the best in the nation." The Department of Chemistry now will use Selective Investment funding to become even better and one of the elite chemistry departments in the nation.