College of Sciences
Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
Fiscal Year 2024-2025
Propelling the SDSU Community Forward
Paul Kurtz and Genevieve Jane Crecelius Endowed Scholarship in Chemistry
The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry received additional gifts to support the Paul Kurtz and Genevieve Jane Crecelius Endowed Scholarship in Chemistry, providing scholarships to support undergraduate students in the department.
Since its establishment in 2014, the scholarship has supported 23 deserving students.
SDSU chemistry students hard at work in their lab class
Thriving in the Aztec Experience
Yesenia Rodriguez Reyes, Class of 2025 Class Level: Undergraduate Student College: College of Sciences Major: Biochemistry
Yesenia Rodriguez Reyes was born in San Diego, grew up in Tijuana, and returned to attend Chula Vista High School in the 9th grade. During her sophomore year, an inspiring chemistry teacher shared her own experiences with biochemistry research.
“I was completely fascinated by it, and I thought that it was something that I would want to do,” she said. She was soon earning community service credit for mentoring her classmates in STEM.
Rodriguez Reyes was the frst person in her family to go to college. When she arrived at SDSU in Fall 2023 as a transfer student from Southwestern College, she had big dreams.
“Before transferring here, I didn’t have any lab research experience, which I thought was going to afect me,” she said. But when she saw none was required for Dr. Luallen’s HostBacteria Interactions Workshop, she reached out to Dr. Luallen and applied.
Dr. Luallen designed his Host-Bacteria Interactions Workshop for frst-generation college students like Rodriguez Reyes, drawing on his own experience.
I was completely fascinated by [biochemistry], and I thought that it was something that I would want to do. —Yesenia
Celebrating Shared Success
Recent Rankings
U.S. News & World Report ranked SDSU No. 108 in Chemistry in the United States.
Statistics of Interest
In Spring 2025, 370 undergraduate and graduate students were enrolled in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (SDSU Analytic Studies & Institutional Research). A total of 63 degrees were awarded in 2023–2024 (SDSU ASIR).
Recent Highlights
The Chemistry Department hosted Betty Klaas, a pioneering woman in STEM, as she celebrated another trip around the sun
SDSU Chemistry & Biochemistry announces the launch of CHEM 103, a new general education course in chemistry designed specifcally for non-STEM majors. CHEM 103 will be ofered in Fall 2025.
Congratulations to Prof. John Love, recipient of the 2025 Faculty Sustainability Award!
Sohl Lab student-researchers were highlighted in this year's awards at the SDSU Student Symposium, with M.S. student Darius Hyde taking one of the Provost's Awards and Josselyn Jacobo winning an Undergraduate Research Excellence Award. Congratulations, Sohl group! Congratulations to 2025 NSF CAREER Award recipient Prof. Rees Garmann.
Nationally Ranked
Achievements
Ranked No. 108 in Chemistry by U.S. News & World Report, SDSU’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry enrolled 370 students and awarded 63 degrees in 2023–2024.
From launching CHEM 103 for non-STEM majors to earning top research and sustainability honors, SDSU Chemistry celebrates milestones and rising stars in 2025.
Faculty Achievements
Christopher Harrison, Ph.D.
Title: Associate Professor, Analytical, Bioanalytical Chemistry, Senate Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry College: College of Sciences
Achievement: Chemistry and biochemistry's Christopher Harrison has been selected by the American Chemical Society as the recipient of its 2025 ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry J. Calvin Giddings Award for Excellence in Education.
The Harrison Lab is interested in exploring and expanding the capabilities of capillary electrophoresis for conducting chemical and biochemical analyses. Capillary electrophoretic (CE) separations, at their simplest, are the separation of ionic analytes based on their charge-to-size ratio in a thin glass capillary, with a voltage diference from one end to the other. This generalization, however, belies the complexity of how the solution and analytes move through this capillary, as well as the various interactions that occur at the interface of the capillary and the bufer solution.
Gregory Elliot
Title: Mass Spectrometer Facility Director, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry College: College of Sciences
Achievement: At this year’s Presidential Staf Excellence Awards, Gregory Elliott received the Innovation & Creativity prize.
Elliott is a director in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, managing an array of advanced equipment. This includes a High-Resolution Mass Spectrometer, a Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometer, and donated and salvaged equipment that required skilled work to be operational. He improved undergraduate lab courses with additional instruments and is developing a High-Throughput Experimentation facility for SDSU.
