From the Chair
D
Jeffrey Johnson
A. Ronald Gallant Distinguished Professor; Department Chair
Dear Friends of Carolina Chemistry,
On November 8th, I had the pleasure of presid-
ing over our annual Department of Chemistry
Junior-Senior banquet. This event is a wonder-
ful opportunity for us to gather in the midst of a
hectic time of the semester to recognize the ac-
complishments of our chemistry majors. We were
honored to be joined by our former colleague and
current Washington University Provost Holden
Thorp. As we gathered, foremost on our collec-
tive departmental mind was the department’s Bi-
centennial Celebration, which will take place next
year, culminating in our on-campus celebration on the weekend of April 20-21. Please mark your
calendars and plan to join us! You will find a sign-up link inside this issue.
In the context of our upcoming Bicentennial, I would like to begin my annual message to you with
some of the reflections that I shared with our majors at the banquet:
“You are majors in a program that has a long and storied history. For seniors, you will graduate in
the year that marks the 200th birthday of the Department of Chemistry’s founding. In a world of the
ephemeral, Instagram, and SnapChat, an institution with nearly 200 years under its belt merits some
reflection. I will ask two semi-rhetorical questions: Why has Carolina Chemistry been here for 200
years and why should you care? Let me take a crack at the former question first.
There is no right or wrong answer as to the durability of the Department, but I would submit that the
longevity is intimately linked to the people – faculty, students, and staff - that have inhabited our
buildings. Cutting edge modern research facilities are important, but the Department was excellent
even when we labored in the decrepit Venable Hall, long after it had outlived its usefulness as a
research building. Faculty hiring is treated as a process that merits the level of thought and surety
of deciding to get married. We as faculty look very carefully for colleagues committed to student
success, to excellence in the classroom, to world-class research; to those that embody the Carolina
Way. Additionally, our staff show impressive longevity with the Department.
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