Welcome to the home page of the Department of Chemistry at Louisiana State University
Come Fall 2017, we will have 34 tenure-track faculty, including four new assistant professors. Faculty perform ground-breaking research across a range of topics, including new methods for the synthesis of biomedically important compounds, nanomaterials, energy storage, computational models for assorted phenomena, ultra-fast lasers, and designer polymers. Research projects are funded from assorted sources including the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, US Department of Energy and the Louisiana Board of Regents. We have excellent facilities that are maintained by experienced scientists. LSU’s Shared Instrumentation Facility (SIF) is located on the ground floor of our new (2012) Chemistry & Materials Building.
Most of our researchers are also active teachers, joined by a strong team of instructors and teaching assistants. During the 2016-17 academic year there were 6,396 enrollments in general chemistry lecture classes. There were 2,368 enrollments in organic chemistry lecture classes, reflecting the large number of pre-professional students that we teach. Enrollments have grown 20-30% in the past decade. In 2016-2017, we introduced a new format for General Chemistry Labs that includes a one third online component, enabling us to simultaneously enhance student learning and increase our capacity to 1,120 students per semester. Our faculty and students are supported by a team of dedicated research associates and staff.
We have a small number of postdoctoral researchers and about 130 graduate students, along with undergraduates, engaged in cutting-edge research. We take diversity seriously in all our endeavors but are particularly proud of being ranked number one in the US for percent female and percent underrepresented minority PhD graduates from 2005-9 (Laursen & Weston, J. Chem. Ed. 2014, 91, 1762-1776). In Fall 2017, slightly more than half our incoming graduate students are women and slightly more than 40% of the domestic students are from underrepresented minorities. Our international graduate students come from all over the world, including Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Germany, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Nepal, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Taiwan, Trinidad and Vietnam. Our graduates go on to a range of fulfilling careers, as our alumni spotlight page shows. If you are a graduate of our Department and would like to share your story, please contact me.
We have three very active student organizations based in our Department: the Student Affiliates of the American Chemical Society (SAACS), the Chemistry Graduate Student Council (CGSC) and the National Organization for Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE).
Further information is available through various links on this homepage. Please do not hesitate to contact me (cmtaylor@lsu.edu) with any comments or inquiries. If I cannot help myself, I will be sure to direct you to someone who can address your request.
Carol M. Taylor
William and Patricia Senn, Jr, Professor of Science and Department Chair