The UMass Amherst chemistry department began in January 1869 with the arrival of its first Professor of Chemistry, Charles A. Goessmann.  Goessmann, a Wohler trained organic and agricultural chemist from Germany, single-handedly built the undergraduate chemistry curriculum, initiated chemical research, and managed the agricultural experimental station at Amherst until 1884 when he was joined by a second chemist, Horace Stockbridge.   For the most part from 1869 to 1907, when Goessmann retired, the department had an average of two to three chemists at any given time.  During this time however, much significant agricultural research was conducted.  For example, the scientific research for the first-in-the-national fertilizer composition and cattle feed laws were conducted at the then Massachusetts Agricultural College (MAC).  Most of this research was done by Goessmann and Joseph Lindsey.

In these early days many MAC students traveled to Germany to receive the Ph.D. degree in chemistry.  Two of these, Charles Wellington and Joseph Lindsey, later served as department heads at MAC.  From 1869 to 1922 the department operated from one building known officially as College Hall, but as the “Chem Lab” by everyone on campus at the time.  In September of 1922 the old Chem Lab burned to the ground and was replaced by a new modern building called the Goessmann Chemistry Laboratory.  Planning for this new laboratory occupied the time and effort of the department for many years during the first quarter of the twentieth century.  The bulk of this planning was accomplished by Joseph Lindsey and Joseph Chamberlain.  With the advent of the Goessmann Laboratory the department was able to expand both its undergraduate and graduate programs.  Physical chemistry and biochemistry were added to the undergraduate curriculum.  The graduate program, begun in 1876, awarded its first masters degree in 1898 and its first Ph.D. in 1915.  By 1937 fourteen doctoral degrees had been granted.  In 1933 MAC had been renamed Massachusetts State College to reflect its increasingly broad and advanced mission

As a result of the Second World War, enrollments in undergraduate chemistry at MSC exploded.  So did the mission of the college – in 1947 MSC became the University of Massachusetts. The department expanded to keep pace with this demand, and in 1950 counted 10 full time professors.  The research activities of the department also increased in the 1950s as outside funding became available from federal and industrial sources.  By the early 1960s the department had become a major research university with 12 full time faculty, dozens of graduate students, and many research papers published annually.  William McEwen, department head from 1962 to 1977, spearheaded this departmental expansion.  McEwen came to UMass from the University of Kansas and worked closely with President John Lederle in building the chemistry department by hiring top faculty and providing modern laboratory facilities in the Lederle Graduate Research Center, completed in 1973.  So rapid was the expansion of the graduate program that, although the 100th doctoral degree was granted in 1968, the 200th was granted in 1973, and the 300th in 1980.  Over 650 doctoral degrees have been awarded by the department since 1915.

The undergraduate program has always been of moderate size – about 20-30 graduates per year – but of high quality.  In a 1951 article in Science magazine UMass ranked sixth in the nation in its percentage of undergraduates receiving the Ph.D.  The undergraduate program is remarkably similar to what it was fifty years ago, still retaining its emphasis on quality, undergraduate research, and a balance of theoretical and experimental coursework.

In addition to strong programs in organic, physical, and inorganic chemistry, the graduate program highlights polymer science, biological chemistry, and analytical chemistry.  The polymer science and engineering program, built on the groundbreaking work of Dick Stein in rheo-optics, has been ranked the number one program for several years running in US News & World Report.  The program is housed in the Silvio O. Conte National Center of Polymer Research, dedicated in 1996.  The analytical division is recognized as one of the strongest in the Northeastern United States.   Recently, the analytical division initiated a major expansion into the area of bioanalytical analysis using mass spectroscopic techniques.  The biological chemistry group interfaces with the departments of biochemistry and molecular biology, and biology in its exploration of protein folding, enzyme catalysis, and other major unanswered questions in biological chemistry.

As it looks to the future, the department, led by Bret Jackson, continues to expand its areas of expertise by adding new faculty – four in the past three years – and renovating and adding new, modern laboratory space.

D. L. Adams
August 13, 2004