Departmental Funding Priorities
Instrumentation
Maintaining state-of-the-art instrumentation is critical for the department to remain competitive for research grants as well as productivity, to the extent that many instruments should be replaced every 6-7 years due to age (and costly repairs for upkeep) or simply to maintain innovations that students should be exposed to before leaving W&M. The Equipment Trust Fund provided by the state provides some support for these needs, as well as College and external support for expensive items such as the new x-ray diffractometer. Our next large purchase will hopefully be a new 600 MHz NMR for the new facility. The increasing versatility of our current faculty, coupled with their research interests, has resulted in a department requiring a far more diversified inventory of instrumentation relative to as little as 20 years ago, and this need will undoubtedly expand in the future. For specifics on exact needs and how you can help, contact the Department Chair, Gary Rice, at 757-221-2540 or e-mail at gwrice@wm.edu.
Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowships
The summer research program continues to flourish, with an average of 45-50 W&M chemistry majors staying every summer to conduct research with our faculty. Several of these fellowships are annually supported through endowments provided by alumni or through annual contributions of the amount of a stipend. Currently there are faculty who can only support a limited number of students due to the size constraints of their labs; but that will change upon completion of the Integrated Science Center, when our capabilitiy of providing summer opportunities to undergraduates will increase significantly. Endowments or annual giving at a level that would support such fellowships would greatly enhance the productivity and continuity of our research programs. For specifics of how you can help, contact Arts & Sciences Development at 757-221-7737.
Scholarships
The rising cost of higher education is making it more difficult for talented individuals to attend the college of their choice. Last year was the final class of our Dow Scholar graduates, a highly successful corporate program that attracted some of the most talented freshmen in the region to our program. Annual giving or endowments to support undergraduate scholarships will allow us to remain more competitive in attracting such talent. The creation of endowments for maintaining stipends for Master's level students would prove very beneficial as well. For specifics of how you can help, contact Arts & Sciences Development at 757-221-7737.
Integrated Science Center
This new 100,000 square feet building will give not only the Chemistry Department but the Biology and Psychology Departments state-of-the-art laboratories and better opportunities for collaboration among the three departments. Much of the cost for this new building and for the renovation for Rogers Hall comes from state appropriations and bond monies. There is still a critical gap between the construction costs of the new building and the private monies necessary to ensure that all of our needs are met for the next generation of chemists. Substantial contributions are still required to make the building of our dreams. For specifics of how you can help, contact Arts & Sciences Development at 757-221-7737.
