Program Requirements
About the Major
Disciplinary foundations. The chemical commerce program includes foundational coursework in chemistry, including general chemistry, analytical chemistry, and organic Chemistry, and foundational coursework in business, including accounting, economics, management, and marketing. At the introductory level, our program philosophy is: dual foundations for dual literacy. We prepare chemical commerce graduates to approach the technology-market interface from either direction — as a scientist developing a new technology or as a marketing manager developing a new market.
Advanced coursework. Chemical commerce students complete selections of upper-level coursework in chemistry, including additional analytical chemistry and organic chemistry, as well as physical chemistry, inorganic chemistry, and biochemistry. Upper-level coursework in business includes finance, business law, and additional coursework selections tailored to match students’ career goals. Chemical commerce students can also use advanced coursework selections to complete appropriate preparatory work for applying to graduate academic programs or professional academic programs to continue study after graduation — including MBA programs, M.D. programs, Pharm.D. programs, and more.
Capstone experiences. Many chemical commerce students complete undergraduate research projects with faculty mentors in the Department of Chemistry; some work at chemistry-based businesses as interns while earning course credit through our chemistry internship program; and all chemical commerce students complete the signature capstone course chemical enterprise. Our capstone course provides an overview of commercial chemistry issues — including real world case studies — and challenges students to approach product issues, financial issues, and scaling issues as critical thinking opportunities unique to chemistry-based businesses.