Chemistry Department celebrates 125th year

There are no fireworks involved, but plenty of history and commemoration as the University of Nebraska-Lincoln chemistry department celebrates its 125th anniversary of its brick, mortar and antiquity.

The department was founded in 1882, and the anniversary celebration will continue until the 125th anniversary of the first graduate degree awarded, said Jim Takacs, chair of the department. The anniversary will culminate in an alumni reunion.

"We're starting to alert alums and others on campus that the department is recognizing a milestone - a series of milestones - in the chemistry and research program," he said.

The department had only two faculty members when it first opened, including the world's first female chemistry professor Rachel Lloyd, said Mark Griep, an associate chemistry professor.

Griep, who is interested in local history, discovered the significance of Lloyd's position while looking through university archives.

"Women had certainly been interested in chemistry (before then)," he said. "For me, it said something about the Wild West. You really had to take all your human resources and use them to the fullest."

Griep said UNL's first chemistry chair, Hudson Nicholson, met Lloyd at her fifth Harvard University summer short course.

"She was knowledgeable in chemistry and botany, and if you know anything about the time, botany was big for women," he said. "She knew what she was doing. That's what I love about it."

When Nicholson established a sugar beet agricultural program at UNL, he decided Lloyd was the perfect person to help. Griep said they were great collaborators, and expanded the department.

The university's first graduate thesis came from the chemistry department, even before there was an established graduate program.

Griep said the department has had three eras, which directly relate to the building the department occupied. The first chemistry laboratory stood where the Sheldon Museum of Art stands today, and was the second building on campus.

"The number of faculty was way up and they needed a better research building, so the university built Avery Hall," Griep said. "It was touted as having fireproof walls and was the safest building in the state."

Hamilton Hall, named after chemistry Professor Cliff Hamilton, was built in the 1970s and is one of the largest buildings devoted to chemistry in the nation, Griep said.

"I think this is the oldest chemistry department west of the Mississippi," Takacs said. "We thought this would be a good year to kick off this pretty big accomplishment."

Tackacs said today's chemistry students are building on a long history.

"(The anniversary celebration) helps us take a quick glance back as the department looks forward to the future," he said.

kiahhaslett@dailynebraskan.com