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FLC Chemistry celebrates its place as one of the state's top programs
2015 marked 35 years since the Fort Lewis College Chemistry Department earned accreditation from the American Chemical Society. The milestone was celebrated at a recent reception that brought former professors and alumni back to campus to mingle with the current chemistry faculty and students.
Accreditation is a mark of excellence for an academic program. It is an assurance to students that the education they’ll receive is as challenging as it is valuable. That the FLC Chemistry Department lives up to the hype is easy to see.
If you were to list the public undergraduate chemistry programs in Colorado that produce the most graduates who eventually earn a Ph.D. in chemistry, which schools would you guess?
According to the National Science Foundation, the list goes like this:
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Chemistry Ph.D.s by where they earned their bachelor’s degree - 2003-2012 (most recent data available)
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Colorado State University
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35
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University of Colorado at Boulder
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31
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Fort Lewis College
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16
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Colorado School of Mines
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14
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University of Colorado at Denver
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9
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That Fort Lewis College, a smaller school, is ranked near the top in Colorado in terms of successful outcomes for its students might seem remarkable to some. For Dr. Ron Estler, FLC professor of chemistry and the 2009 CASE Colorado Professor of the Year, it’s a no brainer.
“I’ve been to lots of schools that charged maybe ten to twenty times more than we do. We have better science at Fort Lewis than they do,” he says.
“The Fort Lewis College Chemistry Department has that ability to turn kids onto science,” he adds. “That’s what we’re really good at.”
To learn more about what the Fort Lewis College Chemistry Department can do for you, visit www.fortlewis.edu/chemistry.