Department Chair

photo of Matt Kiesewetter
  • Matt Kiesewetter
  • Beaupre 225B
  • Department Chair
  • 401-874-2318
  • chm_chair@uri.edu

The Department of Chemistry at the University of Rhode Island is an exciting place to be for both undergraduate and graduate studies. Student interest in chemistry and all of the sciences at URI has seen explosive growth.

The Chemistry Department is housed in the state-of-the-art Richard E. Beaupre Center for Chemical and Forensic Sciences. The Beaupre Center was designed to accommodate teaching students chemistry in the safest and most contemporary fashion but with the flexibility to change as the field progresses in the future. The department is fully equipped with modern instrumentation with the major shared equipment housed in the Teknor-Apex laboratory. Both undergraduate and graduate students take full advantage of the outstanding facilities.

The undergraduate curriculum is certified by the American Chemical Society Committee on Professional Training. Chemistry majors are able to take their required courses in small classroom settings with enrollments typically 35 or less. All of the fundamental areas of chemistry (analytical, biochemistry, inorganic, organic, and physical) are required in the curriculum so that students are prepared to enter a variety of careers upon graduation. All undergraduate students also participate in research projects with graduate students and faculty to help solve problems important to advancing the chemical sciences. Recent graduates have found positions in companies specializing in pharmaceuticals, environmental chemistry, nanoscience, and many others. In addition, for those students wanting to go on to graduate school, URI chemistry students have enrolled and successfully graduated from schools across the country such as Brown, Colorado, MIT, NYU, and Tufts. To listen to comments from current undergraduate students, click here.

Graduate study is centered on research. All first year students take a common core of fundamental courses in their first semester. In addition to training in safety and ethics, electives are taken in the second semester. The rest of the graduate career is dedicated to producing research accomplishments that are publishable in major journals. All graduate students are supported by either a Teaching Assistantship or Research Assistantship, which pay tuition and a living stipend. Upon graduation, students go on to get jobs in government, industry, or academics. Click here to hear from some of our current graduate students.

The study of chemistry at URI is thriving and we invite all to join us.