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About the Chemistry Department

Commitment to Teaching

The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Creighton University is committed to providing the best possible laboratory-based chemistry education for our majors and for the College as a whole. We are (and have been consistently over the past 15 years) one of the largest producers of American Chemical Society (ACS) certified chemistry graduates in the nation. Over the last 10 years we have graduated an average of 37 chemistry majors per year. A published study on academic excellence (sponsored by Dreyfus Foundation, the Welch Foundation, and the Keck Foundation among others) ranked the department 17th out of 1,115 predominantly Undergraduate Institutions in its production of chemistry baccalaureate degrees. This places us in the top 2% nationwide.

Stat 500
#500

Students in General Chemistry per semester

Stat 300
#300

Students in Organic Chemistry per semester

Stat 150
#150

Students in Nursing Chemistry per semester

Commitment to Scholarship

Our emphasis on scholarly endeavors by both our faculty and our students is one aspect of our program that is essential, as chemistry and biochemistry are ever-changing and evolving sciences. We require our certified majors to participate in an independent research project. We believe that traditional scholarly inquiry strengthens a student’s ability to problem-solve, emphasizes the need to be creative in science, and provides unique opportunities to investigate fields of chemistry and biochemistry that are not treated directly in the courses that we offer. Additionally, a good research program will involve the students in investigations of the scientific literature, give them opportunities for scientific writing and oral presentations, and directly challenge them to think about the ethical aspects of science and of professional behavior.

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Dr. Lynne Dieckman in lab with student

When students participate in research, they are participating in the discovery of new knowledge. This can increase their confidence in their own abilities and often provides the absolute proof that science is an evolving enterprise and that they can contribute to that process. The importance of one-on-one interactions between students and their faculty mentors cannot be underestimated. Professional relationships that can last for a lifetime are often formed in these environments. This leads to Creighton University alumni that have very positive, endearing memories of their undergraduate years and a continuing connection to the University in the form of their mentors. Obviously, undergraduate participation in faculty scholarship yields great rewards for all involved, the students, the faculty, and the University.

One traditional measure of scholarly productivity involves analyzing the number of publications and presentations that result from the scholarly endeavors and quantifying the external support (funding and equipment for such activities). By those measures our faculty have fared very well.

  • 150 Publications in national and/or international journals
  • 25 with Creighton University undergraduate student co-authors
  • 250 presentations at regional, national, or international meetings, 84 of which had undergraduate co-authors and most read by the undergraduate students themselves
  • Averaging $1,000,000 as principle investigators for external funding in support of research and average another $1,000,000 as co-principle investigators.
    • NSF
    • NIH
    • Department of Agriculture
    • Research Corporation
    • ACS-PRF
    • NASA
  • Clare Boothe Luce funds
  • Health Science Strategic Investment Fund

Undergraduates matriculating from our department continue with their formal education. The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Creighton prepares its students for many possible futures. The formal training in laboratory-based courses is an integral portion of this preparation. We believe that our laboratory courses instill in the students an ability to problem solve in unique and creative ways, utilizing both team-based and independent learning environments.

  • 33% Proceed to medical or dental school
  • 34% Enroll in Ph.D. programs in chemistry or chemistry-related (e.g., biochemistry, chemical engineering, environmental science) disciplines
  • 33% Participate in organized volunteer programs (Jesuit Volunteer Corps or Peace Corps), or obtain employment in chemistry-related fields, or enroll in MBA or JD programs

The Chemistry and Biochemistry Department at Creighton provides formal training for our state-of-the-art instrumentation. Undergraduates in the department gain experience with these instruments through both laboratory-based courses and research experiences. Students that matriculate from our department receive a robust, hands-on education in instrumentation that empowers them to gather primary data, evaluate the meaning of this data, and creatively apply appropriate instrumentation to solve problems in the chemical sciences.

Representative Instrumentation:

Mass Spectrometers

ESI/APCI MS, Advion ExpressionS CMS
GC/MSD, Agilent 6850/5973
GC/MSD, Agilent 6859/5975 with autosampler
MALDI TOF MS, Bruker microflex LRF
LC/MS/MS, Bruker micrOTOF Q III

NMR Spectrometers

Bruker Avance III HD 400
Oxford X-Pulse 60

IR Spectrometers

Thermo iS5, equipped with ATR (2)
Nicolet Avatar 370, equipped with VT ATR
Thermo iS10, equipped with diamond ATR

AA Spectrometers

Agilent 240
GBC Avanta

Gas Chromatographs

HP 5890 (4)
HP 6850
Agilent 8860 (2)
Agilent 7890B
GowMac (2)

HPLCs

Agilent 1260 quaternary gradient with diode array detector
Dionix quaternary gradient, UV/Vis and electrochemical detectors
HP 1100 (2)

CZE

Beckman-Coulter ProteomeLab PA800

UV/Vis Spectrometers

Agilent Cary 300
HP 8453
Thermo Scientific NanoDrop Onec

Spectrofluorimeter

Carey Eclipse

Fluorescence microscope

AMG EVOS

Plate Readers

Biotek Synergy H1 (5)
SLT SpectraFluor

Single-crystal X-ray diffractometer

Rigaku SCX mini

Scanning electron microscope

nanoScience Phenom Pharos

Sputterer/etcher

Denton Vacuum Desk V

Centrifuges

Sorvall Legend RT+
Beckman Coulter Avanti J-25I

DNA Sequencer

ABI Prism 377

PCR system

Perkin-Elmer 2400 GeneAmp

Incubator shakers

New Brunswick Scientific I2500
New Brunswick Scientific innova 40

Autoclave

Heidolph 2540M

Titrimeters

Allied-Fisher (4)

Polarographic analyzer

EGSG

Electrochemical analysis system

BAS

Magnetic Susceptibility Balance

Johnson Matthey

DSC

PE Pyris 1
PE DSC 7

Osmometers

UIC, membrane and vapor pressure

Contact Us

Department Office
Hixson-Lied Science Building, Room 268
Phone: 402.280.2813
Fax: 402.280.5737

Mailing Address
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
2500 California Plaza
Omaha NE 68178

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