Beyond the Classroom

Read the history of the Lord Lecture Series

The Lord Lecture Series

Supported through an endowed fund established by the Thomas Lord Charitable Trust, the Lord Lecture has been bringing the nation’s most distinguished chemists and practitioners of related disciplines to Allegheny College annually since 1991. The fund is closely linked to Lord Corporation, a major manufacturer of adhesives, rubber chemicals and other products. The roster of Lord Lecturers includes:

Past Lord Lecture Series

  • 2001 Dudley Herschbach, Harvard (Nobel Prize 1986)
  • 2003 Roald Hoffmann, Cornell (Nobel Prize 1981)
  • 2004 F. Sherwood Rowland, U. California-Irvine (Nobel Prize 1995)
  • 2011 Richard Zare, Stanford University
  • 2012 Sir Fraser Stoddart, Northwestern University (Nobel Prize 2016)
  • 2013 Emily Carter, Princeton University
  • 2015 Robert Grubbs, California Institute of Technology (Nobel Prize 2005)
  • 2016 Kristin Bowman James, University of Kansas
  • 2018 (spring) Joseph Harding, Washington State University
  • 2018 (fall) Timothy Swager, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • 2019 Richard Eisenberg, University of Rochester
  • 2023 Richard Silverman, Northwestern University

Department Lecture Series

The Department of Chemistry has a stimulating seminar program that brings outside speakers to campus each year to speak on the most current advances in the field of chemistry. Recent seminar speakers include:

  • Jernej Iskra, Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia
  • Vivien Yee, Case Western Reserve University
  • P. Andrew Evans, Queens University, Kingston, Ontario
  • Neal Zondlo, University of Delaware
  • Aaron Saddow, Iowa State University
  • Jane Jackman, Ohio State University
  • Greg Merz, Cornell University
  • Adam Kiefer, Mercer University
  • Danith Ly, Carnegie Mellon University
  • Kay Brummond, University of Pittsburgh
  • Peter Wipf, University of Pittsburgh

Honors and Prizes

Each year the department awards several honors and prizes for outstanding achievement, including:

  • The American Chemical Society (Erie Section) Freshman Award
  • The CRC Press Chemistry Achievement Award
  • The POLYED Undergraduate Organic Chemistry Award
  • The American Chemical Society Analytical, Inorganic, and Organic Awards
  • The Richard E. Lee Scholarship for the most promising major
  • The Outstanding Junior Major Award
  • The Society of Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh College Chemistry Award
  • The Ruth Ann Verell Scholarship to Oak Ridge National Laboratory
  • The Spectroscopy Society of Pittsburgh Local Section Award

Student Organizations

Chemii Club

The Allegheny Student Chapter of the American Chemical Society. Organized in 1938, the Allegheny Chemii aimed to “serve the purpose of promoting interests among chemistry students.” Today, Chemii organizes field trips, speakers, presentations in the local schools, and social events for chemistry students.

The Executive Board for 2023-24:
Executive Officers: Elizabeth Smith, Amara Taddeo, Jacob Zoll

Advisor: Matt Betush, Assistant Professor of Chemistry

Phi Lambda Upsilon

The National Chemistry Honor Society, Beta Chi Chapter. Dedicated to the promotion of high scholarship and original investigation in all branches of pure and applied chemistry, Phi Lambda Upsilon was founded as an honorary chemical society in March 1899 at the University of Illinois. The Allegheny chapter was chartered in 2005.

Professional Conferences

Students and faculty regularly attend and present at professional conferences, including the regional and national meetings of the American Chemical Society, the National Organic Symposium, and the National Conference on Undergraduate Research.