Chemistry Major | Truman State University

Chemistry Major (BS)

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As a chemistry major, you make exciting discoveries and get hands-on experience working alongside your professors and peers to develop a strong foundation in chemistry that can be used to address issues in many areas, such as materials science, medicine, drug design and discovery, environmental science, and many, many more.

Through our curriculum, you develop as a scientist through substantial exposure to the five fundamental areas of chemistry: organic, physical, analytical, inorganic, and biological chemistry, honing thought processes and problem-solving skills that are sought after by employers and graduate and professional schools.

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Multiple Career Options

From research and academia to medical school and the workplace, our program prepares you to become a versatile chemist. Recent graduates are working:

Pfizer
Bayer
EAG Laboratories
Federal Drug Administration
Stowers Institute for Medical Research

Some of the graduate schools our graduates are attending include:

University of Illinois
University of Minnesota
Stony Brook University
University of Delaware

Regardless of your career goals, Truman offers a high level of preparation. In data collected by the National Science Foundation of baccalaureate origins of Ph.D. graduates (2000-2020), Truman ranked number one for all Masters-level schools (about 1,000 schools) and number 32 for schools at all levels (about 2,000 schools).

Explore Pre-Health Professions

55%

of our chemistry majors continue their studies in graduate school

25%

of our chemistry majors enter the workforce immediately after graduation

20%

of our chemistry graduates enroll in professional schools

Featured Courses

Chemical Principles I

Study topics including thermodynamics (enthalpy, entropy and the Gibbs energy), kinetics, basic equilibrium, quantum mechanics and simple approaches to bonding (Lewis dot structures and VSPER theory).

Physical Chemistry

Learn about gas laws, equations of state, thermodynamics, homogeneous and heterogeneous equilibria, kinetics theory, and chemical kinetics.

Modern Methods in Biochemistry

Explore modern biochemical laboratory techniques including protein assays, enzyme kinetics, gel electrophoresis, chromatography such as gel exclusion, affinity, ion exchange and HPLC, extraction and cloning of DNA, and analysis of lipids.

Instrumental Analysis

Investigate current analysis techniques; spectral methods, electroanalytical methods, chromatography, multistage separations, and other modern chemical methods.

Organic Chemistry I

Learn about fundamental organic chemistry including nomenclature, synthesis, stereochemistry, reaction mechanisms on a molecular level, theoretical aspects of chemical bonding, and introductory chemical phenomena through alcohols.