Chemistry

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Outcomes

Graduate Schools

In the past ten years, every chemistry student who wanted to go to graduate school has been accepted to one, with free tuition and a stipend, typically $20,000-25,000 per year.  Recent grads have gone on to the following graduate schools:

* Carnegie Mellon, Purdue and UVa are so impressed with our graduates that they have guaranteed admission to any Juniata student we recommend.

Jobs

Recent graduates have obtained jobs at companies such as Merck, Pfizer, Cephalon, Wyeth-Ayerst, Restek, Bayer, Lancaster Labs, and many others.  Companies continue to seek Juniata graduates.  Click on the Job Resource Center to find some current opportunities.

Students and Alumni

Juniata's Chem Club received honorable mention from the American Chemical Society in its annual judging of student affiliate chapters. In addition, the Chem Club received one of only 13 Community Interaction grants from the ACS for their innovative Chem Camp.

Leslie Vogt '05 was one of only 8 students, and the only undergraduate, at a Gas Chromatography Conference in Italy in June, 2004. As a result of her performance, she was invited to speak at another conference in Atlanta. Her research on two-dimensional GC was sponsored by Professor Paul Schettler and Frank Dorman '87 of Restek, and funded by LECO Corporation. Leslie also won a Goldwater Scholarship for her senior year at Juniata and spent the 2005-6 year in Germany on a Fulbright Fellowship. She is now at Harvard University for graduate school.

Meara Kauffman '07 and Joni Longenecker '07 were two of only seven students chosen from over 400 applicants for the University of Hawaii REU site in the summer of 2006.  Meara won a Goldwater Scholarship for her senior year and Joni made honorable mention in the same competition.  Meara also won a Fulbright Fellowship to spend the 2007-8 year at ETH in Zurich, Switzerland, working with Professor Erick Carreira.  She will attend the University of Pennsylvania when she returns in 2008. Joni will be attending Cornell grad school.

Angie Sauers '02 finished her PhD in organic chemistry at Princeton and was appointed a Franklin Fellow at the University of Georgia.  In this position she is both a teacher and a postdoc, with faculty rank.

All Student and Alumni Outcomes

Faculty

Emeritus Professor Russey reports that his book, "The Art of Scientific Writing," was Wiley-VCH's best-selling English-language book in 2004.

Professor Hark has graced the Juniata web page four times in the past several years, in articles on his Forensic Science and Chemistry and Art courses. He also appeared on State College television, and was featured in the Chronicle of Higher Education (April 25, 2003). He has also been in great demand for his expertise in applying Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy to analytical problems, and has spoken to colleagues at the Army Research Laboratory. Dr. Hark's research in organic synthesis is supported in part by a contract from a major international company.

Science In Motion, under the Direction of Professor Mulfinger, received a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Education to begin a pilot middle school/junior high school science outreach program and to collaborate with the department in the submission of a major NSF grant to "scale up and evaluate outreach initiatives."

Juniata has received a three-year grant from Merck-AAAS to foster interdisciplinary research in Biology and Chemistry, which will fund 8 students a year.

Professor Fisher won the 2002 Beachley Award for Distinguished Academic Service. Dr. Fisher likes to take apart expensive instruments, figure out what the essential components are, and create his own versions for a fraction of the cost. One of his inventions received a "Best Design Idea" Award from Electronic Design News. Students help him build and test the new instruments. He is also the professor who most often hears from alumni, "I hated it when you did _____, but now I'm really glad you did!"

Professor Reed is one of six faculty involved in a new consortium of scientists focusing on plant research. The consortium, named CROPS, has been funded under the new NSF program on Undergraduate Research Centers.

Professor Mitchell received the Technology Educator of the Year Award by the Technology Council of Central Pennsylvania at the group's annual awards ceremony, held Thursday, March 18 at 7:30 p.m. at the Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts in Harrisburg. "I'm gratified in receiving this award, not so much for myself, but for the many people who have worked with me to make Science in Motion successful," Mitchell says. "The teachers at all our client school districts, the Juniata faculty and administration all deserve part of this award."

Professor Schettler is creating a stir in the chromatography world with his work with Restek, a nearby company, on predicting retention times in gas chromatography. Dr. Schettler has written a computer program that has the potential to save many hours of experimental time by telling companies what column to create that will accomplish specified separations. Previously this was done by trial and error. Dr. Schettler typically has several students working on these projects at any given time.