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Chemistry at Western Maryland

General Department Information

For 130 years, study of the sciences has been an integral component of education at McDaniel College. Through individualized attention from dedicated professors, as well as a challenging and well-rounded curriculum, McDaniel has established itself as a national leader in undergraduate science education.

Some facts about the chemistry department:

  • McDaniel is among the top 50 institutions in the country in per capita number of graduates earning doctorates in the life sciences. In fact, one McDaniel alumnus, Dr. Brian Wladkowski, '88, has returned to teach chemistry here.
  • McDaniel was the first college on the East Coast to introduce molecular modeling in all chemistry courses.
  • McDaniel faculty founded the Middle Atlantic Association of Liberal Arts Chemists, which now has more than 100 members.
  • Of all undergraduate degrees awarded in Maryland from 1977 to 1990, McDaniel ranked second among independent colleges in the per capita number of degrees granted in chemistry.
  • McDaniel students are among the highest scoring in the country on the science section of the Medical College Admissions Test. Over the past decade, only 65 colleges in the nation had average scores above 550, and only two were in Maryland: Johns Hopkins and McDaniel.
  • Each spring, the McDaniel Chemistry Department hosts the Maryland Section of the American Chemical Society's outstanding chemistry student awards meeting.

Housed in he College's new 13.5 million dollar Eaton Hall (completed in September of 1999), the Chemistry Department occupies the entire third floor and portions of the first floor (Introductory Chemistry lab and instruments room) and basement level (high field NMR lab) of this magnificent new facility. In addition, our molecular modeling laboratory for advanced chemical computational studies and a specially designed lecture/demonstration classroom for our Introductory Chemistry course are located in the newly rennovated (2001) Lewis Hall of Science, which is attached to Eaton Hall.

Further information

 

  • The historical importance of science at McDaniel
  • In 1995, Dr. Smith received the prestigious ACS Maryland Chemist of the Year award. Read more in this Carroll County Times excerpt.

The History of Science at McDaniel

  • 1867 - The first students took science courses along with other subjects in a generalized course of study in Old Main. The first science professor (and only member of the original faculty to hold a college degree at the founding of McDaniel) was William Zimmerman, who was later dismissed in 1884 by the College's Trustees for "unorthodox" religious opinions. (He was teaching evolution. The College, strongly aligned with the Methodist Church, was particularly sensitive to Darwin and limited early science courses to chemistry and physics.)
  • 1869 - To attract students, the College advertised its "laboratory" facilities and that students "will be allowed free access to the Department, at hours fixed by the Professor of Chemistry." In truth, there was no professor of chemistry and the lab facilities were meager at best.
  • 1871 - McDaniel gradutes its first class and one of the seven graduates, Henry E. Norris, goes on to become a physician at the University of Maryland Medical School.
  • 1894 - Sara L. Whiteside, McDaniel class of 1874, earns an M.D. from the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania, becoming one of the first women to earn that distiction.
  • 1904 - Yingling Gymnasium, erected in 1889 and the first college gym in Maryland, became Yingling Science Hall. It was still not an adequate science hall and the lack of proper science facilities could have attributed to the College's inability to keep science professors on staff. (There were six chemistry professors from 1900-1914.)
  • 1914 - Thomas Hamilton Lewis Recitation Hall is built to replace Yingling Science Hall. Chemistry, biology, and physics courses move to Lewis. It only contains three labs in its 20 rooms. The other 17 are lecture areas.
  • 1928 - Science students are crowding Lewis Hall. Science Hall, renamed Memorial Hall and again as Martin K. P. Hill Hall in 1995, is built. Biology courses move to the upper two floors; however, chemistry and physics courses are still taught in Lewis.
  • 1966 - Lewis Hall is renovated and expanded as "New Lewis" is added to Lewis Hall of Recitation to officially become Lewis Hall of Science. Biology moves back to one floor of Lewis; the first computer science courses are offered.
  • 1978 - McDaniel accredited by the American Chemical Society
  • 1999 - New 13.5 million dollar Eaton Hall is completed and houses the offices and laboratories of the Chemistry and Biology Departments.
  • 2001 - Rennovations to Lewis Hall of Science (contiguous to Eaton Hall) are completed and include the department's advanced computing laboratory and a classroom specially designed for Introductory Chemistry lectures.

Information from "The Defining Moment" supplement, "Carroll County Times", September 25, 1996.

Copyright 1997 McDaniel College, Westminster, MD 21157
Equal Opportunity Statement
Comments and questions welcome at chemdept@joe.wmdc.edu
This page last modified 6/03 by McDaniel chemistry department