Program Review
Mission Statement
The mission of the chemistry department at Westmont College is to provide a nationally competitive chemistry program that helps our students become competent, thoughtful, and theologically reflective scientists, teachers, health care providers, and citizens of our world.
Program Learning Outcomes
As a result of what they have learned in their chemistry program, graduates in chemistry will be able to do the following:
- Core Knowledge. Students will demonstrate a breadth and depth of knowledge in chemistry.
- Experimental Design. Students will be skilled in working in the laboratory and will be competent in experiment design and problem solving by the time of graduation.
Christian Connection. Students will be experienced at reconciling Christian and scientific world views. They will have a perspective that integrates their scientific and theological beliefs into a seamless whole.
Alumni Stories
Eddie Wertz ’20 is a Chemist at Graphitic Energy, a clean energy start-up company in Santa Barbara developing technology to make the carbon in natural gas an asset instead of a liability.
Chisondi Warioba ’21 (Chemistry, Physics, and Biology) received an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to support his Ph.D. studies in medical physics at the University of Chicago. He has since completed his doctorate and is now continuing his work at Stanford University.
Lexy Gillette ’22 completed her Ph.D. in Solid State Chemistry at Oxford University, home to one of the world’s leading departments in the field.
Will Grubbs ’23 is a curious and insightful chemist who served as a TA and conducted research in inorganic synthesis at Westmont. He now works as a Hispanic Outreach Intern for Habitat for Humanity International, expanding a free home repair program for Santa Barbara’s Latin communities through partnerships with local organizations.
Alison Thomas ’23 is a curious and skilled chemist whose insightful questions elevate classroom discussions and research. She spent a year focused on organic synthesis research and now works as a Complex Securities Valuation Analyst at Deloitte in New York City.
Career Opportunities
Biotech Industry Chemical Engineer Clinical Chemist College Professor Dentist Environmental Chemistry High School Teacher | Industrial Chemist Laboratory Technician Pharmaceutical Industry Pharmacist Physician Quality Control Chemist |
See Career Paths for Graduates Who Studied Chemistry at Westmont
Faculty and Staff
Opportunities Abroad
- Westmont’s Global Health Uganda
- Westmont in Asia • Organization for Tropical Studies: Tropical Diseases, Environmental Change and Human Health, Costa Rica
- Creation Care Studies Program, Belize or New Zealand
- Organization for Tropical Studies, South Africa
- Scholarship & Christianity In Oxford
Tracks & Requirements
Professional Track/Program A/Bachelor of Science
Leads to graduate study in chemistry and prepares students for challenging careers in teaching and research. This track is approved by the American Chemical Society to grant certified degrees. Westmont is the only Christian College in the Western United States with that designation.
General Track/Program B/Bachelor of Science
Offers more flexibility and prepares students for working in a lab and teaching at the secondary level; additional study leads to a range of careers.
Biochemistry Track/Program C /Bachelor of Science
Includes a balance of chemistry and biology, provides the basis for pre-medical and pre-dental training, and leads to graduate study in biochemistry, molecular biology, biomedical research, or genetic engineering.
Chemical Physics Track/Program D/Bachelor of Science
Combines chemistry with a strong emphasis in physics and engineering and prepares students for graduate work in chemical physics or chemical engineering and for teaching chemistry and physics at the secondary level.
General Bachelor of Arts Track
Offers a broader curriculum for a double major; allows the most flexibility; four-year fast-track plan for a secondary teaching credential in chemistry in addition to the B.A. also available.
Requirements | Requirements with Teaching Credential | BA with Teaching Credential Sample 4-year plan
Pre-Chemical Engineering
3-2 program with a degree from an engineering school and a Bachelor of Arts from Westmont College, combines the benefits the liberal arts and specialized training from an engineering school; interested first-year students need to plan their schedule with a professor to meet all requirements. See major requirements for details.
Pre-health Professions Webpage
Westmont is an excellent place for students to complete pre-professional requirements and to prepare for health professional school. There are many resources at Westmont to help students pursue careers in the health sciences including pre-health advising, pre-health information sessions and workshops, pre-health related books, and the pre-health club.
Resources
Instrumentation Available to Students
- Spectrometers: 400 MHz FT-NMR; UV-VIS (5); FTIR (2); Steady-state, time-resolved fluorescence spectrometer; AA spectrometer
- Separation Equipment: GC (3); HPLC
- Mass Spectrometers: LCQ Deca Ion Trap Mass Spectrometer with ESI probe; Integrated GC-MS
- Automated Electrochemical Analyzer
- Viscometers
- Refractometers
- Polarimeters
- Synthetic Lab: glove box, solvent purification system, rotary evaporators (4), numerous vacuum and Schlenk manifolds
- Biochemical Equipment: FPLC; automated gel electrophoresis system; membrane ultrafiltration unit; freeze dryer; centrifuges; incubators and incubator-shakers
Summer Research
As a chemistry student at Westmont, you get directly involved in chemical research. Chemistry majors are required to participate in research, and all our professors maintain active research programs. Each summer about 40 percent of our juniors and seniors serve as paid interns working in the lab. Students regularly co-author scientific papers based on their research, and several complete major honors work each year. This solid background has led many of our students to complete doctoral programs and medical school at top universities.