The History
of the Chemistry Department
Full time faculty at the Chemistry Department are listed chronologically by each year, and are summarized in a short list.
For the first time the Chemistry Department offered courses in 1952 on the third floor of Kearney. Francis S. Ruth and Carl J. Claus were the first two chemistry professors at St. John Fisher. At the first commencement in 1955, seven students with a chemistry major, Richard J. Schottmiller, Robert J. Raynor, Richard A. Phillips, Adalbert L. Gramza, James A. Gaffney, Frank A. Gioseffi, and Gerard L. Carges, were awarded Bachelor degrees. An example of 1956-1957 curriculum includes 1st year general chemistry, followed by 2nd year analytical and 3rd year organic chemistry. After the initial rapid growth (seven chemistry faculty members in 1973 and 20-25 graduates) the number of chemistry graduates since 1978 has settled to 10-12 a year. The number of credit hours for B.S. in chemistry was 49 in 1962. In recent years, it is around 80 for B.S. and around 60 credits for B.A. in chemistry according to 2019-2020 catalog.
The Chemistry club had a small number of members during most years of its history, but in 1954 it grew up to 300 members thanks to the efforts of the newly hired chemistry instructor Edward Weber according to one historical document.
Since 1959, Chemistry labs were located in the Pioch Hall and later moved into the Science Building which was constructed in 1968-1969.
Construction of the Science Building in 1968 NMR instrument in 1976.
Throughout these years, three generations of NMR Instruments have evolved and they all looked very different before the current 400 MHz Bruker instrument has arrived in 2019.
NMR instrument before 2019. NMR instrument since 2019.
Chemistry Faculty Photos
from the past.
Research activities at the Chemistry Department have always been an important part of education since early days. In 1965, under direction of Dr. Aleksey Sirotenko, students compiled their first edition of the Department's own journal in chemistry, "Eagles of Fisher", featuring original articles with well documented experimental procedures, results and discussions.
Research activities at the Chemistry Department have always been an important part of education since early days. In 1965, under direction of Dr. Aleksey Sirotenko, students compiled their first edition of the Department's own journal in chemistry, "Eagles of Fisher", featuring original articles with well documented experimental procedures, results and discussions.
 Bob Smith and graduate Mary Beth Williams with their NASA prototype. |
Prof.
Bob Smith was known for his
research work on the analysis of
water purification systems used in
space vessels. He has received an $87,000 grant from NASA.  Bob Smith with students in 1993. |