This year has been filled with challenges, yet the Department of Chemistry students, faculty, staff and alumni are keeping the Badger Chemist spirit alive at the forefront of research and education. The department continues to deliver its mission to conduct world-class, groundbreaking research in the chemical sciences, while offering the highest quality education and training to undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral associates.
In this issue of Badger Chemist magazine, you will get to meet researchers who are working to find solutions to the SARS-CoV-2 crisis and graduate students who continue to make a difference in the lives and education of others. You will learn about outreach efforts that are educating the public, to better connect scientific research to the goal of improving life in our community and our world.
Throughout 2020 we have risen to meet the challenges and continued to push our department forward as a leader in the chemical sciences. Our new building construction continues. Next year, the site that once housed outdated lecture halls will hold a newly revitalized chemistry education facility, with state-of-the-art instructional laboratories, classrooms, an interactive learning studio and flexible spaces for large classes. The teaching and learning opportunities enabled by these new spaces will allow future generations of students, across numerous majors, to understand the relevance of chemistry in everyday life. The new facility will support our chemistry majors as they embark on their careers as confident, well-trained Badger Chemists.
In closing, I want to thank the donors and friends who support our drive to conduct high-quality research and to educate students. Your gifts make a difference in the work that we do and in the futures of numerous Badger Chemists.