Chemistry PhD Program Marks its 10th Anniversary

Chemistry PhD Program Marks its 10^th Anniversary (2003-2013)

 2013 is a very special year indeed.  A cherished dream shared by many in the Chemistry Department and university, the PhD program in Chemistry was approved in July 2003 and admitted its first students in August 2003.  The program and department have come a long way since the commencement of this innovative, multidisciplinary program.  In many ways the program’s design was visionary.  It is widely recognized that interdisciplinary research and education are critical to addressing the most pressing scientific, technical, and societal challenges.  The program, with a firm grounding in chemistry, was nontraditional from the outset, forgoing the traditional rigid disciplinary structure for cross cutting areas of concentration, initially in Materials Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry, and Forensic Science, and later expanding into Biochemistry.  These areas transcend the traditional disciplinary boundaries of most chemistry PhD programs, providing the critical education and research skills necessary for our graduates to not only to contribute to, but be leaders in developing, a highly skilled and diverse technical workforce for Florida and the nation.  UCF’s PhD program in Chemistry serves as a model for doctoral education in the chemical sciences, and a number of chemistry departments across the country have recognized the relevance of our program, benchmarking their own department and program aspirations to the UCF Chemistry Department and Chemistry PhD program.

In the first 10 years of our Chemistry PhD program, 61 students received the doctorate degree.  Names of the graduates in the program’s first 10 years, along with their dissertation research advisor and semester of graduation are list in the table below.  Graduates have gone on to many distinguished positions, including postdoctoral research positions at prestigious institutions, direct employment at colleges and universities, and positions in a variety of industries across the country.  We want to extend special recognition to the graduates of the first decade of our program for their determination and commitment to help make this a truly remarkable program and educational experience.

To quote one of our recent graduates, Doug Tomlin – class of 2012, “The PhD in Chemistry from UCF enabled me to ensure a career change from environmental engineering to chemistry, where I now enjoy participating in state-of-the-art research projects at NASA. Additionally, I have already begun initiating research proposals for funding to explore new technologies so that I can lead projects of my own towards discoveries that will improve life here on Earth.”