Moving to the Head of the Class

Renovation project creates world-class chemistry lab for students

"Illustrious" is the word that naturally comes to mind when describing Harvard's Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, which has supplied much of the nation's leadership in the field, particularly during this century.

As early as 1687, college-level instruction in chemistry was being included in a course taught at Harvard. Two of Harvard's most distinguished presidents, Charles William Eliot (1869-1909) and James Bryant Conant (1933-1953), emerged from the ranks of the chemistry faculty, and the current Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Jeremy R. Knowles, is the Amory Houghton Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Faculty members have garnered six Nobel Prizes, including the first ever awarded to an American (given to Professor Theodore W. Richards in 1914 for his work on atomic weights).

Today, the tradition continues. In the words of department chair David A. Evans, Abbott and James Lawrence Professor of Chemistry, "We have more Nobel Prize winners reporting to work -- four -- than any other department at Harvard." Undergraduates, drawn by the quality of the faculty as well as the requirements of the premedical curriculum, have been flocking to chemistry as a field of concentration, with a 40 percent surge in enrollments over the past five years.

Harvard has also achieved world renown as the premier department for research in organic synthesis, the basis for most of today's breakthroughs in developing new drugs. "To be a medicinal chemist, you must first be an organic chemist," says Evans.

Limited Lab Opportunities

For all its accomplishments in research, however, the department could not until recently boast of teaching laboratory facilities to match the quality of its faculty, students, and staff. Originally built as part of the Cabot Science Center in the 1970s, the organic chemistry teaching lab was, by the early 1990s, overextended in its capacity to support the experimental aspirations of undergraduates, graduate students, and Extension School students.

In 1993, the department decided to refurbish the lab and bring it up to a standard commensurate with the department's own reputation and the academic skills of its students.

At that time, the lab was used by the introductory organic chemistry courses at Harvard, one semester-long advanced course (Chemistry 135), and the Extension School. Enrollments in the introductory courses had more than doubled over a five-year period, and the Extension School student population had also doubled. Enrollment in Chem 135 had grown by 30 percent, but the laboratory's limitations constrained class size to 40 students.

With only 18 work areas ("islands") containing four benches each, the lab simply could not accommodate everyone who needed to use it. An insufficient number of fume hoods was a special concern. Moreover, because experiments in the advanced course often needed to be left overnight for the necessary chemical reactions to occur, sharing the limited space with the general-level courses became impractical. This meant that advanced and entry-level courses collided with each other if scheduled during the same term.

The lab also lacked glassware and other essentials that the burgeoning number of new students required. "We had professors carting equipment over here from their own labs to teach courses," says Alan K. Long, laboratory director in chemistry and chemical biology and in earth and planetary sciences.

Planning for Change

With strong backing from the visiting committee, an ad hoc committee composed of representatives from the Science Center and the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology confronted the challenge of upgrading the laboratory. The team developed an innovative plan to maximize the use of existing space while dramatically increasing the number of students who could occupy it.

The proposed solution envisioned increasing available student work stations from 72 to 88, while outfitting each with separate sinks and individual storage drawers. To provide additional space, the plan called for moving the wall dividing the Organic Laboratory from the General Chemistry Lab, converting a small adjacent classroom into an instrumentation room, and installing 44 state-of-the-art student fume hoods.

The total budget for the proposed two-year project, including physical renovations, new equipment, and glassware, was $1.72 million, a sum significantly beyond the department's means. The Merck Company Foundation provided the leadership gift that made the project feasible.

Harvard and Merck

The relationship between Harvard and Merck & Co. Inc. originated with Max Tishler, who earned his Ph.D. here in 1934. He then went to work for Merck as a research chemist in 1937 and helped to start a medical revolution. Tishler was instrumental in developing new drugs to treat a variety of illnesses, including the very first effective treatment for tuberculosis and therapies for heart disease, hypertension, and arthritis. In the process, he also aided in redefining the function of medicinal chemistry in a modern pharmaceutical company and helped bring Merck to prominence.

Over the years, Merck, through the Merck Company Foundation, has supported teaching and research in the FAS Departments of Chemistry and Chemical Biology and Molecular and Cellular Biology, as well as at the Medical School and School of Public Health.

Today, many of the leading pharmaceutical companies draw their research staff from Harvard, and Merck is no exception: some 75 to 80 of the company's top scientists received their degrees at Harvard. Raymond Gilmartin, chairman, president, and CEO of Merck, holds a degree from the Business School (1968), and the executive vice president for science and technology, Edward M. Scolnick, is a 1961 graduate of Harvard College and a 1965 graduate of the Medical School.

In spring 1995, with support from Dean Knowles, the department approached Merck for funding to renovate the undergraduate organic chemistry labs. The Merck Company Foundation responded with a gift of $500,000.

According to Thomas N. Salzmann, vice president, chemistry, at Merck Research Laboratories, the research arm of Merck & Co. Inc., "The Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard has served for decades as a rich source of exceptional scientists and scientific advances. Merck and the pharmaceutical industry have benefited greatly from programs such as Harvard's. As an organization dedicated to using the best science to discover the best medicines, Merck is committed to the support of science education at all levels, and we were very pleased to help Harvard bring its undergraduate lab facilities to a state-of-the-art level. Well-trained, creative chemists are increasingly in demand as the challenges of drug discovery and development become increasingly complex."

Dean Knowles comments, "From my own work with Merck, and from so many of my students who now have successful careers there, I know that intellectual rigor and scientific integrity characterize the company. I am therefore delighted with Merck's investment in our commitment to the teaching of practical organic chemistry at Harvard."

Lab Named for Two Harvard Legends

When the laboratory reopened for the 1996 spring term, it was not only redesigned, but it also bore a new name: the Louis and Mary Fieser Laboratory for Undergraduate Organic Chemistry.

Fixtures in the Department of Chemistry since the early 1930s, the Fiesers inspired with both passion and panache countless undergraduates to pursue careers in science. They coauthored numerous basic textbooks that had a tremendous impact on the field. Louis Fieser was a distinguished researcher whose career included work on antimalarial agents, cortisone, and vitamin K-1. Officially, Mary worked as her husband's research assistant, but that title obscured the depth of her commitment to their lab work and her own contribution to their publications.

Harvard's chemistry students traditionally assisted Mary in her editing of the famous reference series, Reagents for Organic Synthesis. Louis died in 1977 at age 78, but Mary continues her connection to Harvard and the department, and occasionally visits the lab that bears her name.

According to David Evans, the laboratory could not be more appropriately named: "The Fiesers were an inspiration to students at Harvard for some 60 years, and the Fieser Laboratory reflects their spirit. It is a place that truly invites students to indulge their passion for science, without limitations or hindrances."