Knowledge of the properties and behavior of atoms and molecules is crucial to our understanding of medicine, biological systems, neuroscience, nanotechnology, environmental science and a myriad of other areas, many yet to be discovered. Yet the statement may also be seen as too limiting. Look around you - chemistry is involved in everything you see, and chemistry provides us with possible solutions to some of our most pressing environmental, social, and political problems. Chemistry is at the core of the search for alternative energy sources, for alternatives to ozone destroying materials, as well as the quest for new drugs capable of dealing with emerging diseases. The rapidly developing field of "Green Chemistry" promises a future with dramatically reduced chemical wastes and exposure of workers and consumers to harmful substances.

Chemistry at Wellesley is a vibrant, multifaceted discipline that offers students a broad-based program in the science within the context of an outstanding liberal arts education. All of the traditional divisions of chemistry - analytical chemistry, biochemistry, inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry and physical chemistry - are represented on the faculty, in the course offerings and in opportunities for student-faculty collaborative research.

The Wellesley Chemistry Department seeks to create a supportive and collaborative intellectual community, where students and faculty can discover and share the joys of doing chemistry. We aim to expand our outreach such that the entire college community understands that chemistry is accessible to all and is an integral part of a liberal arts education. We want to spread the message that study of science at the molecular level is crucial in order to create an informed citizenry and to provide tools for making a difference in the world. We will work to be leaders in both innovative scientific research and in evidence-based teaching, so that the department will be a model for the integration of science and the liberal arts.