Department of Chemistry

Department of Chemistry

Chemistry is the study of matter and the transformations that occur in material things. It is one of the basic sciences, and it is fundamental to the study of all other basic sciences. The Department of Chemistry enthusiastically supports the University’s commitment to quality teaching, diversity, and research.

Major & MinorCourses

Chemistry Summer Research 2024

Chemistry Department Summer 2024 Research Students

  • More than 50 students worked on campus this summer in Chemistry Labs
  • Click here to see more opportunities to work in a research lab with Chemistry Department faculty

Chemists in the Kitchen!

In the latest episode, Julie Pollock, associate professor of the chemistry, and colleagues from other institutions test which method is best — deep fry, air fry, or pan fry. Dr. Pollock leads a lab that studies breast cancer and inflammatory disease development and progression.

"Chemists in the Kitchen" is a YouTube series by the National Academy of Science that follows a rotating cast of chemists who cook, experiment, and tinker with all types of recipes and ingredients. 

Dr. Pollock was also featured on the Quick Pickles and Fermentation episode. 

9

Faculty Members with External Research Grants

65

Students Co-Authored Publications in the Past 5 Years

over 100

Undergraduates Performing Research During the School Year

42

Undergraduate Presentations at Regional or National Meetings Last Year

Upcoming Events

Faculty Highlights

Dr. Michael Leopold
Leopold & Undergraduate Students Published

Michael C. Leopold, professor and Floyd D. and Elisabeth S. Gottwald Chair of chemistry, along with undergraduate students Joyce Stern, '26, Holly Wemple, '25, Charlie Sheppard, '26 and Arielle Vinnikov, '27, published "Fouling-Resistant Voltammetric Xylazine Sensors for Detection of the Street Drug ‘Tranq’” in the journal Toxics. Their research is leading toward the development of a device to help protect first responders during the fentanyl opioid crisis.

View Bio
Dr. Wade Downey
Downey & Undergraduate Students Published

Chiles Wade Downey, professor of chemistry and Clarence E. Denoon Jr. Chair in Natural Sciences,  along with undergraduate students Helen L. Xia, ’24, Eric Zhou, ’27, and Bianca Bicalho, ’22, published "Friedel-Crafts alkylations of indoles, furans, and thiophenes with arylmethyl acetates promoted by trimethylsilyl trifluoromethanesulfonate" in Synthetic Communications.

View Bio
Dr. Kelling J. Donald
Donald & Undergraduate Students Published

Kelling Donald, Clarence E. Denoon Jr. Chair in the Natural Sciences, along with undergraduate students Aamy A. Bakry, ’24, and Matthew G. Fanelli, ’09, and Department of Chemistry collaborators, Carol Parish, Floyd D. and Elisabeth S. Gottwald Professor of Chemistry, and Martel Zeldin, visiting research scholar, published “Dative Bonding in Quasimetallatranes Containing Group 15 Donors (Y = N, P, and As) and Group 14 Acceptors (M = Si, Ge, Sn, and Pb)” in Inorganic Chemistry.

View Bio

Spider Talks: Dr. Julie Pollock

Contact Us

Mailing address:
Chemistry Department
Gottwald Science Center B-100
138 UR Drive
University of Richmond, VA 23173

Phone: (804) 289-8242
Fax: (804) 289-1897

Department Chair: Dr. Jonathan Dattelbaum
Academic Administrative Coordinator: Pat Coleman