C&EN Washington

The industrial job market for chemists and chemical engineers graduating in 1999 could be as good, or nearly as good, as it was in 1998. Or it could flounder. The caveat, according to recruiters and college placement directors, is that hiring could be hurt by an ailing global economy.

Meanwhile, according to chemistry department chairmen, the academic job market will continue to gather steam, as retirements, relocations, promotions, and department expansions open up slots. However, the cost of bringing a faculty member on board or failure of a job search to identify a suitable candidate will hamper hiring at some universities and leave a number of positions unfilled.

Earlier this year, 1999 "was projected to be a very good year," for industrial hiring says James W. Brockington, director of university relations at Air Products & Chemicals. "But given the international economic crises--in Asia, Latin America, and Russia--I think there's some concern that there may be some lessening of demand."

"Many companies now are fearful of catching what is being referred to as the Asian economic flu," explains James D. Burke, manager of research recruiting and university relations at Rohm and Haas. Thus, the optimism that prevailed a couple of months ago has been somewhat dampened. Companies, he says, are going to take a "cautious look." They will go ahead with the plans they have, but some may begin to pull back from those plans if they perceive their economic outlook is discouraging.

Others believe the international economy will have little effect on hiring in the U.S. in 1999. Robert L. Siegel, manager of Ph.D. recruiting at DuPont, says: "Early indicators so far lead me to believe that 1999 will continue to be a good hiring year for newly graduating scientists in the U.S., even in the face of the current crises in Asia and Russia."

The job market for chemical professionals in 1998 was the best on record for the 1990s, a decade that opened with the downsizing of corporate America--which streamlined the industrial workforce until bottoming out in 1995. Recruiting began to get back on track in 1996, improved in 1997, and escalated in 1998. In fact, demand for chemists in some fields, such as synthetic organic chemistry, was so competitive last year that pharmaceutical companies were offering sign-on bonuses not only to Ph.D. chemists with the requisite skills but also to B.S. chemists with appropriate expertise.

According to C&EN's conventional yardsticks--the volume of advertising in the magazine for "positions open" and recruiting activity at the American Chemical Society national meetings--the overall job market for chemical professionals is about on par with last year. The volume of advertising for academic positions, though, seems not to reflect the abundance of faculty openings that by all accounts exist. One reason might be that a department that has a slot open may not advertise the position until start-up funds have been secured, especially because job searches themselves are time-consuming and expensive.

At ACS's national meeting in Boston this August, the society's National Employment Clearing House (NECH) bustled with activity. A record number of employers (228) conducted a record number of interviews (3,141) with a record number of candidates (1,637), according to Jean A. Parr, head of ACS's Department of Career Services. Each candidate had, on average, 2.1 interviews, and a number of candidates indicated they had as many as six interviews. In all, 890 positions were posted, some of them for multiple hires.

"NECH never before topped 200 employers," Parr says. At first glance, the number of candidates seeking interviews seems high, given that demand for chemists was brisk this year. But as Parr explains, the location of the meeting--in an area heavily populated with universities and four-year colleges as well as biotechnology firms and start-up companies--probably accounted for much of the action this August, including the large number of candidates registered for interviews.

On-campus recruiting is robust, with companies so far sticking to their 1999 hiring plans. "Right now, the market looks very optimistic," says Rebecca J. Simon, placement director for the School of Chemical Sciences at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. "But I know how quickly it can change. All it takes is for one or two [companies] to say: 'Oops. We're under a hiring freeze.' "

However, says Simon, "what I'm hearing from companies is: 'We have to be able to hire every year, because we've got to have people in the pipeline.' " Thus, she is hopeful. Her advice to students: "You have to assume that everything is just hunky-dory and it's a great market. You go in and interview with that kind of style, because you can't not do it that way."

"I don't think students are running as scared as they were three or four years ago," says Edward S. Kostiner, a consultant to ACS's Department of Career Services, "but they are a little bit concerned that 1999's opportunities might not be as good as they were this year."

Major pharmaceutical companies were competing intensely in 1998 for the same subset of graduates, and that situation is not likely to change much. "I think it will be even more of a seller's market" in 1999, says David M. Floyd, vice president of discovery chemistry at Bristol-Myers Squibb. Floyd notes that recruiting at major universities started as early as July. Last year, many companies were caught off-guard by the pace of recruiting, and those without long-standing appointments were finding universities booked solid. To avoid last year's stampede, some companies moved up their recruiting timetable by a month or two.

Floyd predicts that the pharmaceutical industry again will be looking for a large number of people with a solid background in synthetic organic chemistry, which he refers to as "the basic skill required for medicinal chemistry research." Other graduates who will be in demand are those with experience in multiple compound synthesis, he says, along with analytical chemists with experience in high-throughput techniques and specialists in bioinformatics (the management and analysis of information derived from genomic databases). There are far more positions available in bioinformatics than candidates to fill them, he says.

Incentives will "definitely" be part of a company's hiring package, Floyd notes, because "smart organizations are not only concerned with recruiting but also with retention."

DuPont's Siegel says fields of expertise in demand--and on the rise--include bioinformatics, biochemical engineering, agricultural biotechnology, and "traditional chemistry and engineering disciplines when applied to agricultural and life science research."

Hiring at Bristol-Myers Squibb next year is expected to be on a par with 1998, although the ratio of Ph.D. chemists to B.S. and M.S. chemists may shift, with fewer Ph.D.s being hired than in 1998. "We hired a large number of organic chemists in 1998, at all degree levels, and we will continue to do so next year," Floyd says. The company is recruiting aggressively on campus, with chemistry, pharmaceutical development, and human resources personnel working in concert.

Pfizer, Glaxo Wellcome, Eli Lilly, and Merck Research Laboratories are among other drug firms set to hire chemical professionals again in 1999. Hiring at Pfizer will be somewhat similar to 1998, says John L. LaMattina, the company's vice president for discovery research. Pfizer hired roughly 140 B.S. and M.S. chemists and 22 Ph.D. chemists in its pharmaceutical R&D group in 1998. Nine of the 22 Ph.D.s were synthetic organic chemists, 11 were analytical chemists, and two were physical chemists. The company also hired 14 B.S. and M.S. chemical engineers.

Some of the hew hires in 1999 will fill vacancies created by employees who have moved to different positions within the company--from discovery research to clinical research, for example--or have gone back to school to get a Ph.D. degree, notes LaMattina.

Glaxo Wellcome's U.S.-based facility in Research Triangle Park, N.C., plans to hire again in 1999. "We are recruiting intensely on campus this year--more than ever before," says Corporate Communications Associate William Chapman. "We hire quite a few B.S. and M.S. chemists, probably more than Ph.D.s as a group," he says. The company expects to hire at about the same rate as it did in 1998, but anticipates that the market for its hiring needs may be less competitive in 1999.

Sidebar: Recruiting for diversity

Eli Lilly's "needs for Ph.D. chemists are significant, but down from 1998," says the company's Ph.D. recruiter, Jeorg Pfeifer. Lilly will be recruiting on and off campus for Ph.D.s in synthetic organic, combinatorial, and computational chemistry. The company is looking to hire roughly 50 B.S. and M.S. scientists with experience in synthetic organic, analytical, and combinatorial chemistry. That's 40 to 50% fewer than were hired in 1998, notes Pfeifer.

But Lilly will be hiring more chemical engineers than it did this year, aiming to bring 40 on board--a mix of new graduates and experienced professionals. The position for a chemical engineer with experience in process automation likely will be the most challenging to fill, he says.

Merck Research Laboratories will continue to hire in 1999, "although at a reduced rate," according to Joel R. Huff, vice president for medicinal chemistry. The company's U.S. sites are in West Point, Pa., and Rahway, N.J. Synthetic organic chemistry is the background of choice for chemists at all degree levels hired into basic and process research positions, Huff says.

Major chemical companies recruiting on campus include Procter & Gamble, Union Carbide, DuPont, Air Products, Rohm and Haas, Dow Chemical, and Eastman Chemical. Joining them, among others, are petrochemical company Phillips Petroleum, temporary staffing agency Lab Support (a division of On Assignment), and consulting firms.

Procter & Gamble is planning to hire about 30 Ph.D. chemical professionals in 1999--15 in analytical chemistry, 10 in organic chemistry, and five in chemical engineering and polymer science, says Grover D. Owens, P&G manager of doctoral recruiting. But those numbers can slide if the economy slips, he says. Even so, "we'll still have plenty of openings, and we are aggressively recruiting at campuses and clearinghouses," he adds.

This past year was P&G's "peak hiring year" for B.S. and M.S. graduates in chemistry, biology, and other science fields, says Margaret T. Boehmer, the company's senior manager of research and product development recruiting. "In 1999, our needs for such graduates will be a bit less," she says. Nevertheless, P&G is looking to hire 75 to 80 B.S. and M.S. chemical engineers and 190 to 200 B.S. and M.S. graduates in chemistry, biology, and other sciences. "We have positions for organic, analytical, computational, and formulation chemists as well as for life scientists," Boehmer says.

Union Carbide's hiring plans for 1999 are steady with this year's--between 25 and 30 Ph.D.s in chemistry and chemical engineering and between 60 and 70 B.S. chemical engineers--according to Donald E. Gatewood, Union Carbide's consultant for university and college relations. More than half of the B.S. chemical engineers will be hired from the company's student employment program, says Gatewood. A few B.S. chemists, whom Carbide recruits from local colleges, are on the hiring roster. The company will be looking for Ph.D.s in organic, analytical, and catalyst chemistry and in process engineering.

DuPont is planning to hire about the same number of Ph.D.s as it did this year, when Ph.D. hiring "was up dramatically" at the company, Siegel says. "Our challenge, as with many companies our size, is to control--and often reduce--costs in some areas, while maintaining an active employment process for new chemists and engineers to bring in needed skills and talents."

Rohm and Haas's Burke likens this challenge to playing poker. People aren't being replaced in kind, he says. "They are being dealt as in poker, where you often pick up opportunities to get new cards." The idea is to assemble a staff that can accommodate a company's changing research goals, he explains.

DuPont will continue to hire a large number of B.S. chemical engineers, Siegel says, and the company will hire more B.S. chemists than in the past. Those with expertise in organic chemistry or biochemistry will be especially in demand.

Rohm and Haas is looking to hire 25 to 30 chemical engineers in 1999, up from the 15 it has hired in 1998, Burke says. This year, the company hired more Ph.D.s (22) than it had planned (10 to 12). Next year, it aims to hire another 22 or so Ph.D.s--in chemical engineering and various chemistry disciplines.

Diane R. Dittenhafer, Dow's manager of recruiting and placement in the North and East, says her company is "projecting a 20% increase in hiring" in 1999, mainly of chemical and engineering professionals. In 1998, Dow hired 105 of these professionals--a mix of B.S. and Ph.D. chemical engineers, Ph.D. chemists, and a few mechanical and civil engineers.

Dow also may increase technical hiring for sales and marketing positions, Dittenhafer notes. The company has adopted a "wait-and-see" stance for hiring in Asia, "which was an area of expansion for us," she points out.

Eastman Chemical is recruiting for Ph.D.s, expecting to hire about the same number in 1999 as it did in '98, according to Hoyt H. Denton, manager of employment and personnel services. The company will hire "few, if any, B.S. chemists, and the number of B.S. and M.S. chemical engineers will be down slightly," he says.

Air Products is recruiting at the same level as this past year, according to Director of University Relations Brockington. The thrust of Air Products recruiting is to maintain a steady number of people in its career development program. "We try very hard to maintain consistent, steady recruiting year after year," Brockington says. "We don't go to large numbers in 'good' years. We stay pretty steady." Chemical and mechanical engineers are among the graduates in demand, he says. "Chemical engineers at all degree levels are important to us. In our MBA recruiting, we look for MBAs who have technical expertise, especially in chemical and mechanical engineering."

Chemical engineers also are on Phillips Petroleum's hiring list. David Blakemore, manager of employment and college relations, says Phillips "is looking for engineering talent, geoscientists--and a few chemists." Blakemore noted that in 1998, every discipline seemed to be competitive, some more than others. "Geoscientists, petroleum engineers, chemical engineers to a certain degree, and computer scientists all were in high demand." He believes the market will be competitive again in 1999, even if competition falls short of this year's. The company is planning to hire at the same rate as it has in 1998.

"The thing that affects us more than anything is the price of oil, and the price is down because of the economy," Blakemore notes. "And there are a lot of producers out there. . . . There's just more oil on the market than there is demand for it. But these are cyclical kinds of things. We've been through low oil prices before, and you know, you just have to hold on and run your business as effectively as you can, watching out for your costs, and hope that you make it through until such a time as the supply starts to dwindle and the demand drives up the prices."

Novo Nordisk Biochem, Franklinton, N.C., a subsidiary of Denmark-based Novo Nordisk, also will be hiring chemical professionals in 1999--at least for the first six months of the year--according to Brian D. Condon, group leader of enzyme development and applications. Hiring will slow down later in 1999, "not because our business is poor, but because our building is getting pretty full," he explains.

Research at the Franklinton facility is directed at developing enzymes for the textile industry. Thus, chemists and engineers at all degree levels with expertise in enzymology and biochemistry will be on the hiring ticket, as will textile chemists and engineers. In looking for textile science graduates, "we use North Carolina State University [Raleigh] quite a bit," Condon says.

The school offers B.S. degrees in textile chemistry and textile engineering and a Ph.D. degree in fiber and polymer science, says Timothy G. Clapp, associate department head of the textile engineering, chemistry, and science department. More than 95% of students have job offers before they graduate, and their salaries are extremely competitive, he notes.

Catherine Connor, director of the Biotechnology Center Placement Office at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, says another area where chemical professionals are in demand is food science. Food companies and their suppliers "can't get enough B.S. people," she says. Connor handles job placements for Ph.D.s in molecular biology and biologically related sciences and for undergraduates who have research experience in these fields. Only one of roughly 50 B.S. graduates she has handled this year "doesn't have a job yet," she says. Ph.D.s in biologically related sciences "need to be able to work at the cellular level" in order to land a job, she notes.

A newcomer on campus this year is seven-year-old Albany Molecular Research Inc., Albany, N.Y. The company, which has grown from two to more than 130 employees, provides custom synthesis and analytical services to customers in the pharmaceutical industry. It plans to hire about 35 more Ph.D. chemists in 1999, after hiring more than 40 in 1998, says James J. Grates, director of human resources. In addition to recruiting at roughly 15 schools in the Northeast and Midwest, the company will seek out candidates through networking and mailings to university department heads.

Sidebar: So you want to work for a small company?

Consulting firm McKinsey & Co., headquartered in New York City, is "actively looking for talented people of all backgrounds, including the chemical, chemical engineering, and related fields," says Karen Kidder, associate director of recruiting. Graduates at all degree level are sought for employment in McKinsey's offices in 80 cities around the world.

"We have never let up on recruiting people," Kidder says. "We serve companies in all industries, so our interest in people with technical backgrounds is in part because they are obviously more comfortable in a technical environment, and a lot of our clients" come from that type of environment. "But in general," she says, "we are interested in people who could grow to become great business problem solvers."

Analytical testing lab Lancaster Labs of Lancaster, Pa., is still growing, topping 600 employees this year when it added 50 new jobs. "About 60% were filled by degreed staff," says Executive Vice President Carol D. Hess. "Most of the degrees were in chemistry, but we are hiring biologists and giving them in-house training to bring them up to speed." The company plans to add 50 new positions in 1999, mostly in its pharmaceutical division, "assuming sales continue to grow," Hess says. "We are finding the market is very competitive for good technical staff," she says. "We are working on getting funding from the state to develop some more training programs so we can hire entry-level people and train them quickly."

By all accounts, B.S. chemists will not have much difficulty finding jobs in 1999. The job market "for B.S. and M.S. chemists is excellent at the present time," says Anthony J. Pearson, chairman of the chemistry department at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland.

Workforce competition has greatly increased the demand for B.S. chemists and chemical engineers, DuPont's Siegel says.

Rohm and Haas's Burke believes fewer B.S. chemists "will need the avenue of temporary employment in order to get permanent jobs" in 1999.

Maybe so. According to Kathy J. West, president and chief operating officer of the temporary staffing agency On Assignment, Calabasas, Calif., "Recent graduates are in high demand, B.S. chemists in particular." But she has noticed a downtrend in the number of temporary positions that are being converted to permanent slots. She believes this is happening because "companies are not sure what the economic trends will be worldwide."

Table: B.S. degrees in chemistry reach record high in 1996

Meanwhile, it's business as usual for Lab Support, the division of On Assignment that places chemists, biochemists, and a mix of other science graduates (mostly with B.S. degrees) in temporary positions with various pharmaceutical, biotech, food and beverage, petrochemical, and specialty labs and manufacturing companies. However, demand for graduates is shifting away from new B.S. graduates to those with two or more years of experience or those who have master's degrees. Companies want people familiar with good manufacturing practices and other industrial standards, West says. "They want people with experience in synthesis, formulations, development, and high-throughput techniques."

Lab Support, which has about 60 branch offices in the U.S., has developed a course aimed at training inexperienced graduates in good manufacturing practices, so they're familiar with the protocol before they go to work. Other training programs are in the works.

Gearing up for the global market, temporary staffing agency Kelly Scientific Resources, Troy, Mich., opened an office in Paris this fall. "We have a U.S. customer base that does business internationally, so we have opportunities there, and we also have customers in the U.S. [from] foreign-based companies," says Rolf E. Kleiner, senior vice president and general manager. "We're going to provide the same types of services we do in the [U.S.]. We believe the market is ready for this."

Sidebar: The shape of chemical companies to come

The company also is gearing up to provide training services. Plans are in the works to develop a "campus of courses" that can be accessed on the Internet for a fee. Among them are courses on ISO 9000 (an international manufacturing standard), good manufacturing practices, good laboratory practices, and blood-borne pathogens. The staffing agency has 29 branches in the U.S. and one in Canada and is "growing rapidly," Kleiner says. Two or three more branches will open in the U.S. this year, and five or six more are expected to be added next year. "We plan on expanding internationally as well" in 1999, Kleiner says.

With construction of the Food & Drug Administration's Arkansas Regional Laboratory, Jefferson, slated for December 1999, FDA is planning to hire about 50 chemists, microbiologists, and other laboratory personnel next year and 100 or so more later, according to its director, Meredith A. Grahn. The regional lab will be responsible for testing products FDA must regulate to ensure compliance with the Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act and other laws and regulations. Job applicants should "like country roads," Grahn advises.

Pending congressional funding, FDA also will be hiring 300 Ph.D. chemists, pharmacologists, toxicologists, and microbiologists over the next five years for consumer safety officer positions at its Center for Drug Evaluation & Research, Rockville, Md., says Keith Ariola, the center's physician and medical staff recruiter.

Some national laboratories also are set to hire. For example, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, which is administered by the Department of Energy, anticipates openings in several scientific disciplines, including mechanical and chemical engineering, according to LLNL mechanical engineer Roberto Ruiz.

Ruiz, Grahn, and Ariola told C&EN of their hiring plans at the annual meeting of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos & Native Americans in Science, held last month in Washington, D.C. FDA and LLNL were among the exhibitors at the meeting.

Sandia National Laboratories, also administered by DOE, plans to hire roughly 10 Ph.D.s in technical positions and a similar number of B.S. and M.S. chemists and chemical engineers in 1999, says Alan P. Sylwester, manager of the catalysis and chemical technologies department. About 10 other Ph.D.s will be recruited for postdoctoral positions. Opportunities are opening up in microchemical systems ("ChemLab on a Chip"), catalysis, separation materials and processes, and modeling and simulations of materials and processes, he explains.

Table: Chemical engineering Ph.D.s reach 18-year high

A survey of academic institutions in the U.S. suggests that academic openings are spreading across the nation. The rub is in being able to fill them on schedule. Start-up costs continue to plague many universities, resulting in vacancies that go begging until funding becomes available. Moreover, the cost of bringing a tenure-track faculty member on board (usually between $200,000 and $300,000 at a research university) means that even well-funded universities will hold off on filling a position until they identify a candidate they believe will almost assuredly go on to receive tenure. Appointments that turn out to be "bad tenure" decisions are just too costly a mistake to make.

Other vagaries of the academic market that may leave vacancies on hold include job offers turned down by candidates who accept positions at other institutions or by candidates whose spouses' careers would be unduly affected by a move, department chairmen tell C&EN. One chairman suggests that the competition among chemistry departments for female faculty hires can cause a delay in filling a slot. "There are not many [female] applicants, and the competition for them is fierce," he says. Another reason slots remain open is that chemistry departments often are competing with other departments such as physics, biology, and biochemistry for university funds.

"I don't think we could recruit anyone we would want for less than $200,000," says William L. Alworth, chairman of the chemistry department at Tulane University, New Orleans. "This creates a real problem, [because] our dean has a hard time collecting these funds, and she can't give all of the start-up funds to chemistry. Physics and biology have similar needs. . . . Thus, the best we can hope for, regardless of our need for new faculty, is about one tenure-track position a year."

Paul B. Hopkins, chairman of the chemistry department at the University of Washington, Seattle, offers another perspective. At his institution, "other fields such as physics and biochemistry are 'catching up' with chemistry [in start-up costs], so that chemistry appears to be less of an outlier, and the dean is better able to understand the issue," he says. "I would categorize our situation as improved relative to a few years ago, [because] deans, the provost, and the president have come to understand that chemistry is expensive."

The financial health of universities varies from institution to institution and state to state. Some well-endowed schools have deep pockets, whereas others are able to finance positions by pooling available resources. When universities are unable to provide adequate start-up funds, however, faculty hiring can grind to a halt.

Start-up costs "are not just a thorn in the hiring process here, they have become a fatal shot in the head," says Edgar F. Kiefer, chairman of the department of chemistry at the University of Hawaii, Manoa. "Our last three hires [made in the 1996-97 academic year] essentially broke the college's meager start-up budget and finished off the research vice president's returned overhead funds as well. . . . The sad part is [that] the three hires made scarcely a dent in our faculty shortage." Five of the department's 20 positions currently are vacant, he notes.

Robert E. Salomon, chairman of the chemistry department at Temple University, Philadelphia, adds: "Last year, we began a search that was canceled mid-stream by central administration. We are currently jumping through hoops to get authorization for new hires for next year." The department hopes to hire two new faculty members next year--one in organic chemistry and one in analytical chemistry.

At the other end of the spectrum are schools that aren't short of money but are having a hard time filling slots. "Set-up costs are high, but that has not been the reason for not filling positions," says Donald M. Crothers, chairman of the chemistry department at Yale University. "We had three positions available last year and filled none of them. In some cases, we just didn't find someone who we thought would meet Yale tenure standards in seven years, and in another case our offer was not accepted. We hired two adjunct faculty, basically people on sabbatical from other institutions." The department has three junior faculty positions open and is searching for inorganic, theoretical, and biophysical chemists.

David A. Evans, a professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Harvard University who just finished a three-year stint as chairman of that department, says the academic job market "looks exceptional again this year." However, he adds, "there are many more top-rated positions than highly qualified candidates." The school has openings for junior faculty members in organic, biological, physical, and inorganic chemistry. Last year, the department hired a junior faculty member in organic chemistry and a senior professor.

"At Harvard, we attempt to attract visiting faculty to fill out our teaching needs to meet our professional teaching deficit," Evans says. The department also has established "a longer term arrangement with a professor from a distinguished liberal arts college to help us with meeting our teaching needs in undergraduate organic chemistry."

Other universities are finding ways to assemble or leverage start-up funds. For example, when the department of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of South Carolina, Columbia, hired a tenure-track environmental chemist to the tune of roughly $300,000 in start-up funds, the money was pulled together from a number of sources, notes department chairman R. Bruce Dunlap. "In our case, environmental chemistry represents a new thrust of the department that fits well" with the university's drive to coordinate environmentally related research across the campus, he says.

Last year, the University of South Carolina interviewed four outstanding candidates for tenure-track positions and made three offers, Dunlap notes. None of the offers were accepted. One individual accepted a position at "what he thought was a better institution." The other two individuals turned down the offers because satisfactory arrangements for their spouses could not be worked out. Currently, the department is conducting two searches for tenure-track positions--one for a director of the department's emerging nanoscience initiative and one for an experimental physical chemist interested in nanostructured materials, surfaces, and interfaces.

This year, when Drexel University, Philadelphia, hired a full professor in analytical chemistry, the start-up package came to $140,000 over two years "plus some renovation costs," says chemistry department head Robert O. Hutchins. Such funding is "low for this area of chemistry," Hutchins says. That the newly hired professor brought some equipment with him leveraged the expense.

Drexel is seeking to replace two faculty members who have retired, Hutchins says. Ph.D.s with experience in bioanalytical or atmospheric analytical chemistry and in materials or polymer chemistry are being sought.

Among other Ph.D.-granting institutions indicating they have faculty positions open in chemistry are the following:

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which is "searching to fill five faculty vacancies" after hiring three new faculty members this year, says chemistry department chairman Stephen J. Lippard. "Visiting faculty have helped with our teaching load," he adds.

Texas A&M University, College Station, which "expects to fill two positions, one at the full professor level, and the other probably at the junior level," says chemistry department head Emile A. Schweikert. "Rather than looking for [chemists with] interdisciplinary training, we are interested in chemists who are open to collaborative efforts and can work in a team."

Tulane University, which is advertising again "for the third straight year" for a tenure-track appointment at the assistant professor level in the area of organic chemistry. "Based on the number of job openings the office is receiving, there are a lot of faculty openings this year in all areas of chemistry," chemistry department chairman Alworth says.

University of Pennsylvania, which is looking for junior faculty members in inorganic chemistry and physical chemistry as well as a senior faculty member. George F. Palladino, vice chairman of the chemistry department, says the department has "ongoing searches for senior faculty in bioorganic, synthetic organic, and materials chemistry."

Case Western Reserve University, which has one position open and "is beginning a search," says chemistry department chairman Pearson.

University of Notre Dame, in Indiana, which has two searches in progress, one for a biochemist or molecular biologist, and the other for a theoretician. "Capitalization is not an issue," says chemistry department chairman A. Graham Lappin, "but we are a smaller university without a medical school, and good candidates [in biochemistry and molecular biology] are very marketable."

University of Texas, Austin, with openings for two or three junior and one or two senior faculty members. One junior and one senior position will be filled by new hires who are a "a compatible fit with a chemical biology initiative associated with [the university's] Institute for Cellular & Molecular Medicine," says chemistry department chairman Marvin L. Hackert.

Cleveland State University, which will have one opening in spring 1999, says department chairman Stan A. Duraj. The department hired two biochemists this year.

University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, with four openings--in organometallic chemistry, organic chemistry, analytical chemistry and mass spectroscopy, and macromolecular synthesis. Interdisciplinary experience is a plus, says chemistry department chairman Lowell D. Kispert.

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, which is searching to fill positions in analytical, biological, and organic chemistry, according to associate professor of chemistry Cynthia K. Schauer.

University of California, Riverside, with three positions open in analytical and inorganic chemistry. "Last year, we filled three junior positions [in analytical, organic, and physical chemistry] and one senior position in inorganic chemistry," says chemistry department vice chairman M. Mark Midland.

"The state budget looks good, and we have not had problems providing start-up funds for new hires," he notes. "However, there is not an unlimited supply of money." Other departments on campus failed to hire last year, he says, leaving more funds available for chemistry.

Colorado School of Mines, Golden. "We filled one position last year and expect to fill one again this year," says chemistry department chairman Stephen R. Daniel. "While we are never able to provide as much start-up money as our candidates would like, we have never failed to fill a position in recent years for that reason."

University of Washington, Seattle, with two openings. "Folks who work at the interfaces [of chemistry and other fields] are at a definite advantage," says Hopkins.

University of Alaska, Fairbanks. "Retirements are continuing to open up slots. We filled two positions last year and two are open this year," says chemistry department chairman Lawrence K. Duffy.

University of Maryland, College Park, which expects to make five to seven new appointments next year, with some balance between junior and senior faculty, says Catherine C. Fenselau, chairman of the department of chemistry and biochemistry. This year, the department hired four assistant professors and Fenselau. Most new appointments are expected to be in the biochemical and biophysical chemistry areas, and some will be joint with the Center for Structural & Molecular Biochemistry in the university's College of Life Sciences, she says.

C&EN asked department chairmen to comment on how their Ph.D. graduates were faring in getting permanent positions. By all accounts, most are doing well. Only one chairman (from a school in a remote area) says Ph.D.s are having a hard time finding permanent positions. A couple of others indicate that Ph.D.s might not find their "dream" job right away or that it may take them a year or two to find permanent work. In one case, a Ph.D. who had overstayed his time on "soft money" in academia, picked up a very respectable permanent position, albeit in a field that differed considerably from his research expertise.

With regard to foreign graduates, one chairman says, "Getting visa clearance is always a problem, but it is not insurmountable. We do not see placement of these individuals as a problem." Another believes foreign-born scientists "have a tougher time getting placed."

Tulane's Alworth notes that three of the most recent tenure-track appointments in the chemistry department were filled by candidates born in China, Canada, and Sweden. "About half of our graduate students come from abroad, from China to Bulgaria and Russia," he adds. "Chemistry continues to be international in impact and interest. It's been our experience that students appreciate excellent chemists who try to do a conscientious job of trying to get them to learn chemistry," regardless of the faculty members' foreign accents.

A recent report by the National Research Council-- "Trends in the Early Careers of Life Sciences" --suggests that the number of Ph.D.s in the life sciences should be frozen at current levels because employment opportunities will not parallel the growth of Ph.D.s.

Maryland's Fenselau, however, believes chemistry "does not share molecular biology's employment problem." Both biotechnology start-up companies and large pharmaceutical companies "are hiring synthetic chemists and analytical chemists right now," she says. "Maryland's growing biotechnology community and our high number of federal labs hire many of our postdocs and [degreed] chemists," she says.

Indeed, information provided by the University of Alabama on Ph.D.s graduating between 1994 and 1998 suggests they're a versatile lot. Among them are faculty members, scientists and researchers in industry and national laboratories, and the president of a venture-capital company. A couple accepted postdoctoral fellowships--at the University of Texas, Austin, and Harvard. And one went to law school.

Information provided by other chairmen variously indicated that in addition to the traditional careers in academe and industry, Ph.D.s are choosing many other options, including science journalism, science policy, actuarial science, computing, criminology, and forensic science.

Four-year undergraduate institutions also will be hiring faculty members in 1999. But the start-up problems are different from those at large schools, says G. William Daub, chairman of the chemistry department at Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, Calif. Typically, the focus is on the items a faculty member needs to get started and the time line involved. In step with the school's educational mission, instrumentation is shared. An incoming faculty member who wants dedicated access to major instrumentation generally must try to find outside funding before the university will consider opening its purse strings to contribute to duplicating equipment or buying more, Daub says.

"We have probably lost a candidate or two over the years over start-up issues," he says. "But it's not common. Generally, the people we hire want to come to Harvey Mudd and start-up issues are not a priority." In recent years, though, start-up costs have become more of an issue, he notes. The college plans to hire one tenure-track faulty member (in organic or inorganic chemistry) to start next August, after filling one position last year. Both openings were due to retirements. "We are looking for top-quality intellects who have a strong desire to teach at an undergraduate institution and conduct research with undergraduates."

The College of Wooster in Ohio currently is looking for a tenure-track organic chemist. "The last tenure-track chemist we hired (in 1996) was awarded $15,000 in start-up funds," says chemistry department chairman Virginia B. Pett. "This is minuscule compared with what universities offer," she says. Retirements are continuing to open up positions in the department, with five more expected over the next 10 years. Faculty members need to be excellent teachers and active in research, and "candidates who have attended a small liberal arts institution are more likely to understand" Wooster's goals, she says.

Positions in organic and analytical chemistry are open at Virginia Military Institute (VMI), Lexington. The institution hopes to fill the positions in 1999. "In the [short term], we are relying on part-time help [from a nearby university] to get us through," says chemistry department head Steven Riethmiller. "We tend not to hire people who have some terribly esoteric field that would not be readily translatable to a small undergraduate environment. I expect we will be able to find modest start-up funds for our new faculty. I don't see that as a stumbling block to hiring." Based on the number of applicants received (30), Riethmiller believes the job market must be pretty good. However, he says, "given the military nature of VMI, we probably don't get as a many applicants as a 'normal' college would."

Another four-year school, Loyola University, New Orleans, "will search for one position this year and most likely for one next year," says chemistry department chairman Kurt Birdwhistell. Of last year's graduates, one went to work at Merck (she had five interviews with biotech and pharmaceutical companies), two went to medical school, and one went to work in a "nonchemical area," he says.

VMI had seven B.S. chemistry graduates this year. "Two are in the Army, two are working in the chemical industry, and three have gone to graduate school," Riethmiller says.

Traditionally, about 60 to 80% of Harvey Mudd chemistry graduates go to graduate school in chemistry or chemistry-related fields; 10 to 15% go to industry; and a small number go to medical, business, and law school, Daub says.

About 40% of Wooster graduates go to graduate school in chemistry or biochemistry; 40% pursue careers in teaching, industry, or government; and 20% go to medical or dental school, Pett says. "It doesn't appear that fewer of our students are opting for graduate school," she says.

Data from ACS's Department of Career Services, however, indicate that, since 1994, the proportion of bachelor's degree chemistry graduates choosing work over graduate school has steadily increased. A survey conducted by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (C&EN, Sept. 21, page 11) indicates that among U.S. citizens and permanent residents, graduate school enrollments were down 2.5% in the physical, environmental, and life sciences in 1997; 13.9% in engineering; and 8.7% in computer science. The drop in enrollment was attributed in part to a strong job market.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that some students are going to work for a year or two before going to graduate school. Indeed, some college placement officers are urging them to do just that. The University of Illinois' Connor says: "I tell them to work for industry for two or three years before they go back to graduate school," because industry will teach them priority setting, time management, and focus, and they won't even know they are learning it.

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Copyright © 1998 American Chemical Society