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    Careers

    Find the Career of your Dreams with a Foundation in Chemistry

    Government agencies predict that there will be severe shortages of scientists in the very near future. Thus, students now entering chemistry programs should expect to find an extremely good job market upon graduation. If you choose to major in chemistry, you will have a strong educational foundation for:

    • A career in the chemical or related industries
    • Teaching high-school chemistry
    • Entry into graduate school
    • Transfer to a medical or dental school,
    • Entry into the many environmental fields which are increasingly important, or
    • Employment in the myriad of industries which depend on chemists for their continued success. Among these are careers as diverse as biotechnology, agricultural chemistry, environmental chemistry, geochemistry, food and flavor chemistry, and materials science. 

    What about FHSU chemistry graduates? 

    Typically, about two-thirds of FHSU alumni who graduate with a degree in chemistry go into health-related professions, primarily medicine and pharmacy.  About one-third enter the workforce immediately, some as teachers and others as chemists.  Recent alumni work for the following organizations:

    • Hays Medical Center
    • Fuller Brush Company
    • Kansas Bureau of Investigation
    • Hospira
    • Quintile Pharmaceuticals
    • Kansas Department of Health and Environment
    • KU School of Medicine

    Still not sure what to do with an undergraduate degree in chemistry?  Check out the American Chemical Society Web  site for a large number of career options for graduates with a strong background in chemistry or visit FHSU’s Academic Advising and Career Exploration Center for additional career counseling.  Feel free to contact the Department of Chemistry to speak with a faculty advisor.

    The world is at your fingertips. Are you ready?

    FHSU Chemistry graduates - out in the world
    Khanh Huynh (2008)
    Student
    KU School of Medicine
    Mission, KS
    My degree in Chemistry at FHSU prepared me well for the basic science courses so far in the first year of medical school. I found that Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry helped me a lot, because they don’t take the time to explain every step of the pathways so it helps to have some background knowledge. Although I don’t see “bench science” in my future, I’m certain that I will use some aspect of my skills in the near future. Being vice-president of Chemistry Club, a mentor in YouthFriends, and a youth leader at my church exposed me to a sense of community and the need for good leadership. I want to work with the urban poor and/or the uninsured in a community health setting in the future so my experiences with those activities help validate those goals.


    Joshua Leck (2001)
    Pharmaceutical Chemist
    McPherson, KS
    While attending FHSU, I felt that my laboratory training and experience was first-rate. Shortly after starting at Abbott Labs, my hunch was confirmed. My laboratory classes at FHSU introduced me to nearly every type of analysis I perform at my job. I was surprised to learn how different the college experience was for many of my co-workers. The research project I participated in while at FHSU brought all that I learned in class together, which gave me a broader understanding of what it means to be a chemist. The broader understanding of why individual tasks are performed is needed, whether it is to lead a project to completion or direct a group of people to complete those tasks. However, it was the critical thinking and problem-solving skills I received in both the laboratory and classroom that have been the most beneficial to my career. The chemistry professors – along with many others – were more interested in training students how to think rather than prompt them to repeat facts.