Chair's message

During COVID-19, Temple chemistry's resilience meant this spring's extremely challenging semester was also quite productive. Faculty brought their in-person classes online in a matter of days. Our resourceful and talented students adapted well to this new and, for many, unfamiliar mode of instruction.

True to Temple's motto, Perseverance Conquers, our graduating seniors emerged at the end of the semester with bachelor degrees in chemistry and biochemistry, and our graduate students with masters and doctorates. We hope they will enjoy a graduation ceremony in the near future. Currently, faculty are developing further expertise in online instruction to be ready for this fall. Meanwhile, the department's world-class research effort continues to transition from a remote work environment back to our more familiar on-campus laboratory environment.

While our path forward faces challenges, there is no doubt that we can overcome anything thanks to the commitment and resilience of our students, staff and faculty. The latter will soon include recently hired Assistant Professor Daniel Kim, an organic chemist. His presence will further strengthen our teaching and research mission to meet the challenges ahead.

I hope you enjoy reading about our department's growing success.

Daniel Strongin
Professor and Chair

Read Chemistry Update 2020 (PDF)