Table of Honor
Department of Chemistry &
Biochemistry

The periodic table of the elements is one of the most recognizable tools, that chemists use. It often has a special significance for chemists and non-chemists who recall fond memories of early struggles with learning the names and symbols of favorite elements. Our own Lewis Reeve Gibbes was Professor of Natural History and Mathematics from 1839 to 1892 who among his many distinctions in the natural sciences was the development of a periodic system of the elements (1867).

The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the College of Charleston offers you a unique opportunity to own your favorite element, to have your name be part of a special periodic table to be displayed in our new science building, and to invest in the education of our dedicated and able students of chemistry.

Each year the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Endowment Fund enables us to supplement state funding levels and extend support to various aspects of our program which we have come to view as essential features:

• travel grants to students as they visit chemical laboratories;
• travel and subsistence stipends as students attend workshops, short courses, and professional meetings where they present reports of their studies with faculty mentors;
• supplementary funds for the purchase of specialty items and chemicals for the individualized laboratory projects which can make chemistry so special for advanced majors.

We believe that these special features of our program give our students something extra, an advantage they take with them as they become practicing chemists or enter graduate or professional schools.

We want to continue to provide these extras which make our program special to our students, and we want to expand those features to include:

• summer stipends to support students studying one-on-one with faculty mentors;
• funded awards for outstanding students at each of the levels of our programs;
• the purchase of multimedia materials to incorporate the latest advances in educational technology into our classrooms and laboratories; and
• the purchase of needed equipment and accessories for our classrooms and laboratories.

The list of needs continues to grow much faster than our funding resources. If we are to expand these essential features of our program, our endowment simply has to grow.

For this reason the The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the College of Charleston has begun a Table of Honor campaign. We believe that this investment in the department and its programs will be the stepping stone which will enable our students to enter the next century with the preparation, experience, support, and enthusiasm that you, too, had as you began your successful and rewarding career.

A donation of $1000 for most elements, which can be in the form of a donation or a multi-year (no more than three years) pledge, will go directly into the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Endowment. Donations matched by employers are also included. A few elements are reserved for those wishing to make a special gift:

In recognition of your support and generosity, your name will be engraved on a special periodic table that will be on permanent display in our new science building. A temporary version of the Table of Honor periodic table is now on display in the departmental office so we can be sure that we correctly associate each donor with her or his choice of favorite element. A number of the faculty have already declared their support for the program by arranging for gifts to the endowment fund. All persons who make these commitments will have their names displayed on their favorite element on the Table of Honor Periodic Table.

We think this is a unique opportunity for you to become a building block for our department and a chance to have your donation transformed, just like the elements, into opportunities and experiences that will compound your support in very real and enduring ways. If you have questions or wish additional information please contact James P. Deavor, Chair, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, by telephone at (843)-953-8095 or by e-mail at chem@cofc.edu.

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