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Department History

Chemistry’s important place in the educational mission is made clear in early records, even as far back as the very founding of the university. The first Chairman of the Faculty, John W. Mallet, was a well-known chemist, lured to Austin from a prestigious position at the University of Virginia. The first academic building on the “Forty Acres,” constructed specifically for a single discipline, was the Chemical Laboratory in 1891. The first Dean of the newly formed Graduate School, Henry W. Harper, was a popular chemistry professor.

The formative years of the department were marked by a small but highly stable chemical faculty; until 1937 only eight individuals held professorships in the department. During the twenty-two year period between 1896 and 1918, a triumvirate of professors -- Harper, Bailey, and Schoch, known as the “Three Pals” -- was the Chemistry Department. Early chemistry faculty members were some of the best known and most beloved figures on the young campus, and their involvement in university affairs stretched far beyond their laboratories and classrooms. They were also a devoted group of men. Of the eight chemistry faculty members appointed between 1883 and 1927, only the first two left the university for reasons other than retirement or death. They were dedicated to helping the new academic institution through its difficult early days, and today share the credit for meeting the legislature’s mandate, to build “a university of the first class.”

The faculty began to expand more rapidly after 1937. Eight additional professors joined the department between 1937 and 1940, when the Department of Chemical Engineering was split off and transferred to the College of Engineering. The explosion of scientific research in the United States after World War II resulted in even more accelerated growth in all science and engineering departments across the country. Today the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry has nearly professors on active, retired, or emeritus status.

Today the University of Texas at Austin’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry ranks among the top ten departments in North America and among the top five in public institutions. We maintain excellent standings in the five traditional areas of chemistry (analytical, biological, inorganic, physical and organic) and are making significant contributions to the emergent areas of chemical biology and material science. Additionally, opportunities for interdisciplinary research are facilitated by the Texas Materials Institute, the Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology, the Center for Molecular and Cellular Toxicology, and the Center for Nano- and Molecular Science and Technology.

Primarily housed in Welch Hall, the department has fully staffed state-of-the-art mass spectrometry facilities (LRMS, HRMS, Electrospray, MALDI-TOF, etc.), NMR facilities (Nicolet NT200, NT 360, QE300, GN500, Bruker AC250, Varian 300, 400 and 500), x-ray crystallographic facilities (Siemens P3 and P4 X-ray diffractometer equipped with Nicolet LT2A low temperature device and CD detector), and a center for computer multi-media support. Additionally, the fully staffed machine, electronics, and glassblowing shops and the Mallet Chemistry Library are housed in the department’s 500,000+ square-feet of modern research and teaching space.

A more detailed history and faculty genealogy can be found on the Mallet Chemistry Library’s site.