Notable Events from 2007-08
Research funding to the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry for January 1, 2006 through December 31, 2007 increased 10% over the same period for the previous year.
The University of Maryland Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the National Organization of Black Chemists & Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE) entered into a Technology Education Partnership (TEP) in 2008. The TEP leverages the synergies between the two organizations towards the common goal of attracting, training, and promoting more minorities into the STEM disciplines and to support their post educational careers as professional scientists and engineers. The TEP agreement commits the University of Maryland to participating at the NOBCChE Annual Meeting and to preview students interested in pursuing careers in chemistry. NOBCChE will also facilitate research collaborations between the chemistry departments of various HBCUs and the University of Maryland's Chemistry Department with the goal of having more students of color pursue graduate degrees in chemistry.
The department’s Committee of Distinguished Advisors met on a freezing cold and sleeting February 22nd to learn more of the ongoing operations of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and to offer advice on future programs and new initiatives. Among the issues discussed was a departmental white paper entitled “Moving the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry to ‘Top 20’ Ranking.” This document compares the Department of Chemistry at the University of Maryland with First and Second Quartile ranked departments nationwide according to summary data provided through the Council for Chemical Research. A lively discussion followed the review of the data with numerous helpful recommendations and observations. There was consensus that we need more graduate students to generate more grant dollars and more grant dollars to obtain more graduate students. The teaching program was reviewed and the department was made more aware of the qualities needed by students as they enter employment.
Marker Symposium featuring Professor Harry Gray (California Institute of Technology) and Professor Julius Rebek (Scripps Institute, California) were highlights of the department's seminar program.
