analytical chemistry Editor: Herbert A. Laitinen EDITORIAL HEADQUARTERS 1 155 Sixteenth St , N W. Washington, D.C 20036 Phone: 202-872-4570 Teletype: 710-8220151 Managing Editor: Josephine M. Petruzzi Associate Editor: Andrew A Husovsky Associate Editor. Easton: Elizabeth R Rufe Assistant Editors: Barbara Cassatt. Nancy J Oddenino, Deborah C Stewart Editorial Assistant: Andre D ’Archangel0 Production Manager: Leroy L. Corcoran Art Director: John V. Sinnett Designer: Alan Kahan Advisory Board: Donald H. Anderson, Peter Carr, Velmer Fassel, David Firestone, Kurt F. J. Heinrich. Philip F. Kane. Barry L. Karger, J. Jack Kirkland, Lynn L. Lewis, Marvin Margoshes, Harry E. Mark, Jr., J. W. Mitchell, Harry L. Pardue, Garry A. Rechnitz, W D. Shults Instrumentation Advisory Panel: Gary D. Christian, Catherine Fenselau, Nathan Gochman. Gary M. Hieftje. Gary Horlick, Peter J. Kissinger, James N. Little, C. David Miller, Sidney L. Phillips. Contributing Editor. Claude A. Lucchesi Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University. Evanston, Iil. 60201 Published by the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 1155 16th Street, N.W. Washington, D C 20036 Books and Journals Division Director: D. H Michael Bowen Editorial: Charles R . Bertsch Magazine and Production: Bacii Guiley Research and Development: Seldon W Terrant Circulation Development. Marion Gurfein Manuscript requirements are published in the January 1978 issue, page 189. Manuscripts for publication ( 4 copies) should be submitted to ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY at the ACS Washington address.
The Status of Academic Analytical Chemistry On p 849 A of the current issue, Dr. Janet Osteryoung of the National Science Foundation describes a survey of analytical chemistry faculty in graduate chemistry departments in the United States and Canada. This survey was carried out by comparing trends in the numbers of analytical chemists compared with chemists as a whole, as determined by examination of the 1971, 1975. and 1977 editions of the ACS Directory of Graduate Research. T o quote her summary, “There has been a pronounced increase of analytical chemists in graduate departments, the increase is greater than that of all chemistry faculty, and the increases pervade all types of institutions”. On p 852 A, we carry a follow-up of an article by Rodney T. Hartnett et al. in Science, 199, 1310 (1978) in which the peer ratings of faculty quality in three specialties (chemistry, history, and psychology) are compared with corresponding ratings of subspecialties in each field in 25 diverse institutions. The striking conclusion was that with the single exception of analytical chemistry, the subspecialty ratings correlated reasonably well with the ratings of the three specialties as a whole. Upon closer scrutiny, it turned out that the poor correlation for analytical chemistry resulted from four departments of the 25 being weak in graduate analytical chemistry while being exceptionally strong in chemistry as a whole. According to the third annual survey of academic openings carried out by the ACS (Chern. Eng. N e u ~ s June , 19, 1978, p 39) analytical chemistry rates first in the number of vacancies. Of the 310 available positions reported in 324 schools surveyed, 7 8 will be in analytical chemistry as compared with 64 in organic chemistry, 49 in physical chemistry, 45 in biochemistry, and 42 in inorganic. chemistry. These studies reinforce the feeling that academic analltical chemistry ha5 been on the upswing during the recent past and also t h a t in a few departments of high quality, analytical chemistry is being relatively neglected. Other departments of recognized excellence have maintained high quality analytical programs and, of course. in several notable departments, analytical chemistry is well in advance of the department as a whole. All of this might seem too trivial to d e s e n e special mention except for the fact that the top-rated departments tend to serve as models for less prestigious ones. Those responsible h r deciding the future of graduate programs would be well advised to look more deeply than just a t a few top-rated chemistry departments before concluding that analytical chemistry need not play a significant role.
The American Chemical Society and its editors assume no responsibility for the statements and opinions advanced by contributors Views expressed in the editorials are those of the editors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the American Chemical Society
ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY, VOL. 50, NO. 9, AUGUST 1978
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