<p>In the last nine years, the Chemistry and Biochemistry Departments have had nine NSF Fellowship winners, three Rhodes Scholars, and numerous NSF honorable mentions.</p>
<p>The College currently graduates 15-20 chemistry and biochemistry majors a year. Between 1988 and 1992, Occidental College graduated more chemistry and biochemistry majors than Caltech, U.C. Riverside, USC, Stanford, Washington State, and over half of the California State Universities (according to the American Chemical Society Committee on Professional Training).</p>
<p>According to data supplied by the Council on Undergraduate Research's "Research in Chemistry at Undergraduate Institutions," 5th Edition, Occidental College ranked first among 335 independent schools in the number of undergraduates involved in summer research in the 1988-91 period. We averaged 38 students over the four years.</p>
<p>In the last eleven years, 246 presentations involving Occidental chemistry student authors or coauthors have been delivered at international, national, regional and local American Chemical Society meetings in addition to Southern California Undergraduate Reseach Conferences. In the past ten years, Occidental undergraduates in chemistry have presented nearly one-fifth of all papers submitted at annual Southern California Undergraduate Research Conferences, more than any other college or university.</p>
<p>In 25 years as a professor and college administrators, my career has taken me from Dartmouth and Stanford to UCLA and finally to Occidental. I can say with absolute honesty that I have never seen the quality of teaching that goes on in our classrooms here every day.</p>
<br>
<p>Our theory of teaching and learning is a simple one: we put the worlds best students together with the worlds best faculty in an intimate setting for close interaction. We are committed to the liberal arts that is, not to narrow specialization in a single field, but to the articulation of the sinews that bind disciplines together. The ability to synthesize information, make connections, and be creative is essential in a world where new ideas, new businesses, and new industries are emerging overnight.</p>
<p>We believe that the diversity of our students represents the future, and the fluencies they develop here the ability to work with people and bridge social divides gives them another critical skill much in demand. Finally, our connections with Los Angeles give our students unparalleled opportunities to test these skills in one of the most vital cities in the world. All of these core values come together to create Occidental, an institution of intimate scale and infinite scope.</p>
<p>Stanley Burgos 06 of Huntington Park is taking part in Occidentals challenging 3-2 program with Caltech, a five-year course of study leading to a combined physics/engineering degree. The first in his family to attend college, hes been aiming high since he was a kid who talked about becoming a rocket scientist.</p>
<p>Ranked second in his high school class, he dreamed of studying physics in college. But despite his mothers best efforts, Stanley lacked the necessary residence status to qualify for federally funded financial aid. I was devastated, says Stanley, a then undocumented immigrant from El Salvador who has lived in the United States since he was 7.</p>
<p>For two years, he studied calculus, physics and chemistry on his own while his case was appealed to the Immigration and Naturalization Service. After much hard work, he finally straightened out his paperwork and sent in his college applications. Stanley chose Occidental over UCLA and UC Berkeley on the advice of his high school calculus teacher, an Oxy alumnus who suggested he would like the intellectual challenge of a small institution. The Colleges 10.5:1 student-to-professor ratio was a key factor in his decision.</p>
<p>Stanley has made the most of his experience by collaborating with Associate Professor of Physics Daniel Snowden-Ifft to research dark matter, a substance that dominates the universe but hasnt been detected. With some of his advanced level courses enrolling as few as eight students, Stanley is on track for reaching the stars. Ive been working with post-doctoral researchers as an undergraduate, Stanley says. Its very rewarding. Oxy challenges me both inside and outside the classroom.</p>