Chemistry Department

Department Chairperson: Andrew G. Sykes, Ph.D.
Graduate Program Director: Ranjit T. Koodali, Ph.D.

Department of Chemistry
Churchill-Haines, Room 115
414 East Clark Street
Vermillion, SD 57069
Phone: (605) 677-5487
www.usd.edu/chemistry

FACULTY

Professors:

Mary T. Berry, Ph.D., University of Virginia. Specialization: Physical Chemistry, Lanthanide Spectroscopy, and Photochemistry.
Miles D. Koppang, Ph.D., University of North Dakota. Specialization: Analytical Chemistry, Electrochemistry as Applied to Bioanalysis, Electron-Transfer Mechanism at Electrodes, and Chemical Education.
P. Stanley May, Ph.D., University of Virginia. Specialization: Physical Chemistry, Spectroscopy of Transition Metal and Lanthanide Ions in Solid State, Solid-State Energy Transfer Dynamics, and Multiple Photon Excitation.
Grigoriy A. Sereda, Ph.D., Moscow State University. Specialization: Organic Chemistry, Synthesis of Biomedically Relevant Compounds, Catalysis, Photocatalysis, Controlled Modification of Fluorescent Nanocrystals with Organic Functionalities.
Andrew G. Sykes, Ph.D., University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Specialization: Inorganic Chemistry, Luminescent Sensors and X-ray Crystallography.

Associate Professors:

David C. Hawkinson, Ph.D., Northern Illinois University. Specialization: Physical Organic and Bioorganic Chemistry.
James D. Hoefelmeyer, Ph.D., Texas A&M University. Specialization: Inorganic Chemistry.
Chaoyang Jiang, Ph.D., Nanjing University. Specialization: Analytical Chemistry and Materials Chemistry. Layer-by-Layer nanocomposite, Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering, Laser Scanning Confocal Microscopy, Plasmonic Nanomaterials.
Ranjit T. Koodali, Ph.D., Indian Institute of Technology-Madras, Chennai. Specialization: Physical Chemistry, Mesoporous materials and their applications in environmental remediation and conversion and storage of solar energy.
Joseph E. Vitt, Ph.D., Iowa State University. Specialization: Analytical Chemistry, Electroanalysis, Analysis of Electrochemical Oscillating Reactions, and Oxidation Mechanisms by Oxygen-Atom Transfer at Electrode Surfaces.

Assistant Professors:

Dmitri Kilin, Ph.D., Chemitz University of Technology. Specialization: Physical Chemistry, Computational Chemistry.
Haoran Sun, Ph.D., Jilin University. Specialization: Organic Chemistry, Fluorinated materials for energy conversion and drug development.
Z. Rick Wang, Ph. D., University of South Florida (Tampa). Specialization: Inorganic Chemistry, general chemistry, supramolecular chemistry, materials chemistry.

DEGREE

Master of Science, Plan A only
Doctor of Philosophy in Materials Chemistry

Program Description

While the thirteen research faculty span the major sub-disciplines of chemistry (analytical, inorganic, organic and physical), their work is focused on: (1) nanomaterials for catalysis, energy storage, environmental remediation, luminescent up-conversion, plasmonics, sensors, and solar energy conversion, (2) metalorganic chemistry for luminescent sensors and catalysis, (3) organic synthesis for photovoltaic and drug delivery applications, and chemical reaction mechanisms, (4) computational chemistry and molecular spectroscopy, (5) electro and photoelectrochemistry, and (6) bio-polymers and bio-medical devices. The department offers a Ph.D. in Materials Chemistry as well as a Master of Science in Chemistry. Graduate students may begin their program at the start of either the fall or the spring semester. Completion of requirements for the M.S. degree in Chemistry generally takes two years for students who enter with the equivalent of an ACS approved B.S. in Chemistry. There is a substantial research component to the program culminating in oral defense of a thesis whose basis is an original contribution to the discipline. The Ph.D. in Materials Chemistry is designed to allow students to complete both master’s and doctoral requirements within five years.

ADMISSIONS REQUIREMENTS

Applicants must complete a baccalaureate degree in Chemistry. Satisfaction of additional requirements may be stipulated to provide a course background equivalent to that of an American Chemical Society (ACS) approved major.
An undergraduate GPA of at least 2.7 or a graduate GPA of at least 3.0 is required.
Applicants who do not have a degree from an American college or university must submit General GRE scores for admission to the University of South Dakota. The minimum standard is a score of 147 in the Quantitative Reasoning section and 134 in the Verbal section. The scores are considered along with the other application materials.
Additional requirements exist for international students and applicants with degrees from other countries.

- Subject to faculty approval, those who do not meet all of the criteria above may be admitted on a provisional basis.