School of Chemical Sciences   |   College of Liberal Arts & Sciences  |   College of Engineering

Where Do Our Students Go After Graduation?

Graduates of our department are enthusiastically pursued by recruiters from diverse industrial sectors. Our alumni make an impact around the world in academic and industrial research and development, manufacturing, management, education, and government positions. Global changes in recent years have resulted in a shift in placement distribution. In 1993, nearly 50% of our graduates joined traditional Chemical Engineering sectors such as the petrochemical industry; in 2000, 20% of our graduates did so. Today, more than 50% of our graduates find employment in the microelectronics, pharmaceutical, food, and biotechnology industries; up from 10% in 1993.

Recent graduates and their employers

Below are examples of major industrial employers of our PhD graduates in recent years.
3M Company Dow Chemical Company Merck
Abbot Laboratories Eli Lilly Pfizer
Applied Materials Exxon-Mobil Procter &Gamble
Air Products General Electric Schering-Plough
BP-Amoco IBM Shell
Bristol-Myers Squibb Intel Texaco
Colgate-Palmolive Kraft Foods Unilever
Dupont Milliken Research Corp.  

The Academic Advising & Career Services Office

The SCS Academic Advising & Career Services Office of the School of Chemical Sciences assists students at all levels in finding a job after graduation. Included in the office is a comprehensive library of vocational books, brochures, pamphlets, and other printed materials supplied by professional organizations, industries, and governmental agencies. Services of the office include the coordination of industrial and government on-campus recruiting, distribution to students of pertinent information relative to the visits, and scheduling of interviews.

Additional services include career counseling, assistance in planning and preparing for interviews, assistance in finding part-time and summer employment, and contacting employers to assist alumni who wish to relocate. The SCS Academic Advising & Career Services Office services also include listing academic positions. The office keeps in touch with chemistry and chemical engineering departments across the country and maintains a current file of academic positions.