Education
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Education Detroit u to train chemical businessmen Four-year program leading to ΒΛ. degree requires minimum of 20 semester hours of chemistry, 21 to 24 hours of business The University of Detroit will offer a four-year joint chemistry-business pro- gram, leading to a bachelor of arts de- gree, beginning this fall. The curriculum was conceived and developed by Dr. H. Harry Szmant, chairman of the chemis- try department, and Dr. Rikuma Ito, dean of the college of business and ad- ministration. According to Dr. Szmant, the new program will give people pre- paring for employment in the chemical industry "a better awareness of what is expected of them." Dr. Szmant observes that "tradi- tional" chemistry graduates tend to be strongly research-oriented. But he points out that nearly 40% of the roughly 100,000 chemists employed by U.S. pri- vate industry are engaged in work other than research and development. "Time and experience have demon- strated that a background in chemistry is useful for management, marketing, and sales careers in chemical and allied industries," Dr. Szmant says. But "in the past, most individuals advanced into these positions because of personal inclinations and experience rather than because of specialized training. The chemistry-business program at the University of Detroit proposes to pre- pare interested personnel for a good start in the pursuit of such careers." For the joint degree, minimum re- quirements in chemistry total 20 semes- ter hours, including general chemistry, organic chemistry, and their accom- panying laboratory courses. In addition, the chemistry-business students will take two courses designed especially for them—a two-semester-hour course on industrial aspects of chemistry and a one-semester-hour seminar, in which students will get to talk with and learn from chemical industry executives. Chemistry-business students will also take analytical geometry, calculus, statistics, and general physics, for a total of 19 semester hours. Business core requirements—to be completed in the junior year—include courses in accounting, economics, ad- ministration, marketing, business fi- nance, and business and economic sta- tistics, for a total of 21 to 24 semester hours. In addition, students, depending on their "area of concentration," may elect courses in personnel administra- tion, collective bargaining, marketing research, financial management, inter- national trade, or operations research. The course on industrial aspects of chemistry forms a bridge between sci- ence and business courses. One part covers economic aspects of the chemical industry—such things as employment, contributions to the national economy, production and use of chemicals, organi- zation and functions within chemical corporations, and patent and proprie- tary rights. Another section deals with sources of chemicals, interrelationships among various industrial chemicals, and im- portant industrial chemical processes. The remainder of the course, devoted to explanation and discussion of "useful combinations of properties as a func- tion of structure and composition," is, in effect, a brief survey of applied physi- cal chemistry. Industry reaction to the new program has been predominantly favorable, Dr. Szmant says. However, some chemists in industry have expressed reservations. For example, Dr. Lane F. McBurney, director of Hercules, Inc.'s research center, says, "It seems to be a move in the right direction to increase the rele- vance of an education in chemistry to the business world a B.S. chemist will face." But he voices concern about the production of graduates who haven't met "the ACS standard of 32 hours min- imum in chemistry. Such a graduate is not a professional graduate at the time of hiring. "In our company," Dr. McBurney goes on, "the many people who 'run the business' are predominantly bona fide chemists and engineers who picked up their added business savvy along the way. More recently, of course, the M.B.A. following a technical B.S. de- gree is becoming desirable, especially for people on the marketing side of the business." The question is, Dr. McBurney says, "Does Detroit want to graduate a busi- ness-trained person who has a little more chemistry background than usual, or a professional chemist who has a better background in and appreciation of the chemical business than the usual B.S. chemist? My vote would be for the second alternative, based primarily on what I believe the chemical industry wants to hire." Dr. Szmant agrees that a B.S. in chemistry supplemented by an M.B.A. is a more elegant "academic menu" but he points out that that option is already available at many institutions. And, he says, "growing into the chemi- cal profession with a simultaneous ex- posure to its economic and business ramifications" offers some advantages "compared to a conventional B.A.-B.S. program in chemistry followed by an M.B.A. "It is our hope that people who are attracted by the chemistry-business professional goals from the beginning of their college experience will be de- Szmant: a better awareness veloping background on both fronts in a parallel manner and that they will go beyond the minimum chemistry require- ments," Dr. Szmant explains. He adds that the chemistry department will do all it can to convince students that ful- fillment of ACS-approved programs is to their advantage—in those instances where it really is to their advantage. But for some students there can be "frightening obstacles"—physical chem- istry, for example—to a bachelor's degree in chemistry. Yet, Dr. Szmant contends, they can still become useful members of industrial organizations. Dr. Szmant also believes that the chemistry-business program will be especially valuable for students from developing countries. The past demon- strates, he asserts, that the education of scientists along classical academic lines hasn't been very effective in producing people who can initiate local growth of industrial activities. In contrast, he says, graduates of the University of Detroit program would have the entre- preneurial background required to pro- mote chemical and allied industries in developing areas of the world. June 25, 1973 C&EN 15
Transcript of Education
Education
Detroit u to train chemical businessmen Four-year program leading to ΒΛ. degree requires minimum of 20 semester hours of chemistry, 21 to 24 hours of business
The University of Detroit will offer a four-year joint chemistry-business program, leading to a bachelor of arts degree, beginning this fall. The curriculum was conceived and developed by Dr. H. Harry Szmant, chairman of the chemistry department, and Dr. Rikuma Ito, dean of the college of business and administration. According to Dr. Szmant, the new program will give people preparing for employment in the chemical industry "a better awareness of what is expected of them."
Dr. Szmant observes that "traditional" chemistry graduates tend to be strongly research-oriented. But he points out that nearly 40% of the roughly 100,000 chemists employed by U.S. private industry are engaged in work other than research and development.
"Time and experience have demonstrated that a background in chemistry is useful for management, marketing, and sales careers in chemical and allied industries," Dr. Szmant says. But "in the past, most individuals advanced into these positions because of personal inclinations and experience rather than because of specialized training. The chemistry-business program at the University of Detroit proposes to prepare interested personnel for a good start in the pursuit of such careers."
For the joint degree, minimum requirements in chemistry total 20 semester hours, including general chemistry, organic chemistry, and their accompanying laboratory courses. In addition, the chemistry-business students will take two courses designed especially for them—a two-semester-hour course on industrial aspects of chemistry and a one-semester-hour seminar, in which students will get to talk with and learn from chemical industry executives.
Chemistry-business students will also take analytical geometry, calculus, statistics, and general physics, for a total of 19 semester hours.
Business core requirements—to be completed in the junior year—include courses in accounting, economics, administration, marketing, business finance, and business and economic sta
tistics, for a total of 21 to 24 semester hours. In addition, students, depending on their "area of concentration," may elect courses in personnel administration, collective bargaining, marketing research, financial management, international trade, or operations research.
The course on industrial aspects of chemistry forms a bridge between science and business courses. One part covers economic aspects of the chemical industry—such things as employment, contributions to the national economy, production and use of chemicals, organization and functions within chemical corporations, and patent and proprietary rights.
Another section deals with sources of chemicals, interrelationships among various industrial chemicals, and important industrial chemical processes. The remainder of the course, devoted to explanation and discussion of "useful combinations of properties as a function of structure and composition," is, in effect, a brief survey of applied physical chemistry.
Industry reaction to the new program has been predominantly favorable, Dr. Szmant says. However, some chemists in industry have expressed reservations. For example, Dr. Lane F. McBurney, director of Hercules, Inc.'s research center, says, "It seems to be a move in the right direction to increase the relevance of an education in chemistry to the business world a B.S. chemist will face." But he voices concern about the production of graduates who haven't met "the ACS standard of 32 hours minimum in chemistry. Such a graduate is not a professional graduate at the time of hiring.
"In our company," Dr. McBurney goes on, "the many people who 'run the business' are predominantly bona fide chemists and engineers who picked up their added business savvy along the way. More recently, of course, the M.B.A. following a technical B.S. degree is becoming desirable, especially for people on the marketing side of the business."
The question is, Dr. McBurney says, "Does Detroit want to graduate a business-trained person who has a little more chemistry background than usual, or a professional chemist who has a better background in and appreciation of the chemical business than the usual B.S. chemist? My vote would be for the second alternative, based primarily on what I believe the chemical industry wants to hire."
Dr. Szmant agrees that a B.S. in
chemistry supplemented by an M.B.A. is a more elegant "academic menu" but he points out that that option is already available at many institutions. And, he says, "growing into the chemical profession with a simultaneous exposure to its economic and business ramifications" offers some advantages "compared to a conventional B.A.-B.S. program in chemistry followed by an M.B.A.
"It is our hope that people who are attracted by the chemistry-business professional goals from the beginning of their college experience will be de-
Szmant: a better awareness
veloping background on both fronts in a parallel manner and that they will go beyond the minimum chemistry requirements," Dr. Szmant explains. He adds that the chemistry department will do all it can to convince students that fulfillment of ACS-approved programs is to their advantage—in those instances where it really is to their advantage. But for some students there can be "frightening obstacles"—physical chemistry, for example—to a bachelor's degree in chemistry. Yet, Dr. Szmant contends, they can still become useful members of industrial organizations.
Dr. Szmant also believes that the chemistry-business program will be especially valuable for students from developing countries. The past demonstrates, he asserts, that the education of scientists along classical academic lines hasn't been very effective in producing people who can initiate local growth of industrial activities. In contrast, he says, graduates of the University of Detroit program would have the entrepreneurial background required to promote chemical and allied industries in developing areas of the world.
June 25, 1973 C&EN 15
