Majoring or minoring in chemistry (the study of matter, energy, and their interactions) and biochemistry (the study of chemical processes and reactions within living systems) enables you to develop a sophisticated understanding of the world around and within living organisms. Leading to either a bachelor of science or bachelor of arts, Southwestern’s wide-ranging curriculum provides you with a wealth of course options, from foundational courses in organic chemistry and quantum mechanics to electives in food, environmental, and medicinal chemistry. Our accomplished faculty—who have won prestigious grants from such agencies as the Robert A. Welch Foundation, the Merck Company Foundation, the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Foundation, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute—and our state-of-the-art teaching and research laboratories empower you to engage in hands-on, collaborative learning experiences, including undergraduate research, internships, and community-based projects. SU students and faculty have coauthored publications in several major peer-reviewed journals and regularly present their research at national meetings of the American Chemical Society.

Our current students are successfully prepared for placement in top-tier graduate and medical schools. Several of our recent chemistry graduates have been awarded highly competitive graduate research fellowships from the National Science Foundation, and our alumni have gone on to build careers in the sciences and beyond, including medicine, law, tech, pharmacy, and petrochemical.