University of Utah Department of Chemistry

The Department of Chemistry at the University of Utah started as a small department without a graduate program and went on to become the pioneering research and dedicated teaching department it is today.

In 1946, a chemistry student was the first Ph.D. candidate to graduate from the University of Utah under the leadership of Dr. Henry Eyring, Dean of the Graduate School and internationally-renowned chemist.

Since then, the Department of Chemistry has continued to grow in stature. The most recent review by the Graduate Council quoted an outside reviewer and member of the National Academy of Sciences, who described the department as having “one of the nation’s strongest and most respected programs.”

Utah Chemistry is known for its excellence both nationwide and worldwide. It ranks in the top 15% of U.S. graduate programs (182 programs) and in the top ten of state-funded programs. The undergraduate program ranks 10th nationally with respect to number of majors and 4th nationally with respect to the number of degrees certified by the American Chemical Society.

Our current faculty includes 9 Distinguished Professors, 14 recipients of the Distinguished Scholarly and Creative Research Award, 11 recipients of university-wide teaching awards (Distinguished Teaching Award, Early Career Teaching Award, Hatch Prize), 5 recipients of the Rosenblatt Prize, a Priestley Medalist and National Medal of Science recipient, and winners of dozens of major awards and fellowships from scholarly and professional societies and private foundations.