Department of Chemistry
Why Chemistry?
Studying chemistry is your passport to understand the world around you but will undeniably enable you to make the best choice for your lifestyle. People are often scared of chemistry, they think it will hurt them and their environment even though chemistry and chemicals have improved human health and life over the past century. Keep in mind that chemical industries will not be allowed to cause the environmental damage they initiated in the 20th Century and the “Green wave” has started (see Green and Sustainable Chemistry course description). Washington College is one of twelve ACS-certified institutions offering a green chemistry course in the nation. Chemistry goes hand-in-hand with ecology, biology, toxicology, and environmental engineering so whatever career pathway you will take, you will come across the subject of chemistry.
What To Do With A Chemistry Degree?
Chemists are scientists whose work is challenging, exciting, fun and rewarding. Having a chemistry degree in hand can open the doors of:
academic institutions.
You might work as a teacher in high school, a professor in college, or researcher in a university,
Federal, state, and local government agencies.
You might work for:
- the Food and Drug Administration as a medicinal, analytical or biochemical chemist
- the Department of Justice and other law enforcement agencies as a forensic or analytical chemist
- the Department of Agriculture as an agricultural, biochemical, environmental, or analytical chemist
- the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a physical, environmental, inorganic or organic chemist
- a Patent Office as a patent researcher or lawyer
- the National Science Foundation as a science writer and editor
- the Department of Energy as an industrial and engineering, materials, or environmental chemist
- the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as a geochemist
chemical industries.
Chemists produce anything from plastics and paints to pharmaceuticals, foods, flavors, fragrances, detergents, and cosmetics.
health-related fields.
Chemistry graduates are well-prepared for medical, veterinarian, dentistry, nursing, podiatry, optometry or pharmacy schools.
business.
Some chemists also work as business owners, technical librarians, consultants, art conservators, or even investment bankers.
Reference: Chemistry and Your Career: Questions and Answers published by the American Chemical Society (permission authorized August 11, 2008)