It is with excitement and enthusiasm that I welcome you to the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Oklahoma. We invite you to accept the challenge of becoming an agent for positive change in the 21st century. As our nation and world struggle with a multitude of problems ranging from growing energy needs to human health and welfare in a shifting climate, the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry is taking a leading role in the discovery and development of new approaches to improve the human condition. With 35 faculty representing diverse areas of expertise in the chemical and biochemical sciences, our department is interested in educating and training the best and brightest future leaders of tomorrow’s academic, industrial and government institutions.
Supporting this effort, the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry moved in the summer of 2010 to the 160,000-square-foot Stephenson Life Sciences Research Center. More than 110 graduate student and postdoctoral researchers work side-by-side with faculty in a highly interactive environment to solve some of the most pressing challenges of our time. The Stephenson Life Sciences Research Center was created with an eye toward further growth, with several new faculty from cutting-edge disciplines expected to join our team during the next few years. The center is home to several major core facilities and research support services, including mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction facilities.
Our faculty are among the top-funded researchers at OU, with numerous external research grants and contracts. Nine of our faculty hold distinguished or endowed professorships and 12 have received awards for excellence in teaching and/or research. The faculty are committed to offering new cross-disciplinary courses for our students. The department encourages undergraduate students to get started in research early and graduate students to develop personalized research programs that cut across traditional barriers in the chemical sciences. For example, a student can opt to study biochemistry, conduct research in an organic chemistry laboratory and attend regular meetings in the analytical sciences. Our faculty work closely with each student to tailor a graduate program that specifically suits his or her needs and interests.
I encourage you to explore our department, who we are, what we do, and what you can accomplish here. All of us in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry look forward to answering any questions you may have about where we are going and how you can contribute to becoming an agent for positive change. This is an exciting time for the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and I am honored to serve as its chair.
John W. Peters
Associates Second Century Presidential Professor
Department Chair
The mission of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry is to instruct students and provide expert advice to academic, industrial and government institutions on the role of chemistry and biochemistry in the natural world.
The Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Lab (NMR Lab) provides training and access to all researchers who wish to use our instrumentation. In addition to researchers within the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, we are open to research groups from outside our department and outside the University of Oklahoma.
Four faculty members were recognized at the 2025 Faculty Awards and Honors:
A research team composed of research assistant and OU alumna Jennifer Ou and undergraduate students Meiling Wade and Maham Saeed earned First Place in the Poster Award, securing the workshop’s top prize of $1,000.
Congratulations, Surya Singh, for winning the People's Choice Award in the 3 Minute Thesis Competition. Surya is a 4th-year graduate student working in Dr. Indrajeet Sharma's lab. The title of his presentation was: "Sweet Light: Using Sugar and Blue Light to Create Next-Generation Antibiotics".
Helen Zgurskaya and Valentin Rybenkov are leading a five-year, $5.3 million project funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to find new ways to deliver lifesaving drugs directly into resistant pathogens.
University of Oklahoma alumna Abby M. Cardoza, now a researcher at the Colorado School of Mines, has co-authored an award-winning paper in the American Chemical Society’s journal Chemistry of Materials.
We’re excited to introduce Aaron Lim, the newly elected president of the Chemistry Club at OU—already making plans to connect students and faculty through research, mentorship, and community.
The June 2025 C&EN feature highlights efforts led by University of Oklahoma associate professor Indrajeet Sharma, whose lab has developed a bench-stable sulfenylnitrene reagent that safely and selectively inserts a single nitrogen atom into five-membered N‑heterocycles under metal‑free, ambient conditions—dramatically advancing the precision of late-stage skeletal editing.
Explore our undergraduate majors, courses offered and research opportunities.
Learn more about our graduate program, courses offered and financial assistance.
Explore our research areas, facilities, support services and centers.
Browse our research areas, faculty pages and the degrees we offer to see where you can find a home here in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry.
Divisions within the areas of chemistry and biochemistry are used at OU to organize teaching assignments, course requirements and degree candidacy requirements. There are seven divisions at OU: Analytical, Biochemistry, Inorganic, Materials, Organic, Physical Chemistry and Structural Biology.
The Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry offers degrees for both undergraduates and graduates, including a Chemistry minor, Chemistry and Biochemistry B.S., Chemistry B.S., Biochemistry B.S. and Chemical Biosciences B.S., as well as M.S. and Ph.D degrees.
We are grateful to our strong network of supporters. Your support allows our undergraduate and grauate students the opportunity to excel in research and in the classroom alongside our dedicated faculty. For information on how you can contribute efforts or resources to the department, please visit our Support page.
