What does a chemistry professor do?
Chemistry professor responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real chemistry professor resumes:
- Provide technical peer-review of quantitative and qualitative data for both GMP and method validation analyses.
- Work directly in polymer chemistry and physics laboratory at undergraduate level and polymer blends at graduate level.
Chemistry professor skills and personality traits
We calculated that 24% of Chemistry Professors are proficient in Laboratory Courses, Teach Chemistry, and Analytical Chemistry.
We break down the percentage of Chemistry Professors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Laboratory Courses, 24%
Instructed, supervised, and evaluated students in lecture and laboratory courses for majors and non-majors.
- Teach Chemistry, 19%
Teach Chemistry to students pursuing an Associates degree in Pharmaceutical Assistance.
- Analytical Chemistry, 14%
Prepared and delivered lectures to students on topics such as organic chemistry, analytical chemistry, and chemical separation.
- Chemistry Lab, 7%
Prepare reagents, materials and equipment for organic chemistry laboratories and supervise students' laboratory work.
- Environmental Chemistry, 5%
Course Developer and Director for Senior-level Environmental Chemistry class.
- Biological Chemistry, 4%
Managed and led General Chemistry and Organic/Biological Chemistry lab sessions for undergraduate students.
"laboratory courses," "teach chemistry," and "analytical chemistry" are among the most common skills that chemistry professors use at work. You can find even more chemistry professor responsibilities below, including:
Speaking skills. The most essential soft skill for a chemistry professor to carry out their responsibilities is speaking skills. This skill is important for the role because "postsecondary teachers need good communication skills to present lectures and provide feedback to students." Additionally, a chemistry professor resume shows how their duties depend on speaking skills: "presented presentations and interacted with students in lab and during office hours to explain general chemistry concepts. "
Writing skills. Many chemistry professor duties rely on writing skills. "postsecondary teachers need strong writing ability to publish original research and analysis.," so a chemistry professor will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways chemistry professor responsibilities rely on writing skills: "evaluate and monitor student performance in lecture and laboratory classes by writing quizzes and exams about material covered in class. "
The three companies that hire the most chemistry professors are:
- UWorld3 chemistry professors jobs
- University of Wisconsin System2 chemistry professors jobs
- Harvard University2 chemistry professors jobs
Choose from 10+ customizable chemistry professor resume templates
Build a professional chemistry professor resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your chemistry professor resume.
Compare different chemistry professors
Chemistry professor vs. Sciences dean
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, chemistry professor responsibilities require skills like "laboratory courses," "teach chemistry," "analytical chemistry," and "chemistry lab." Meanwhile a typical sciences dean has skills in areas such as "scholarship," "math," "sociology," and "division faculty." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
The education levels that sciences deans earn slightly differ from chemistry professors. In particular, sciences deans are 3.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a chemistry professor. Additionally, they're 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Chemistry professor vs. Associate professor of chemistry
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that chemistry professor responsibilities requires skills like "teach chemistry," "curriculum development," "chemical engineering," and "biological chemistry." But an associate professor of chemistry might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "physical chemistry," "sops," "fda," and "gmp."
On average, associate professors of chemistry earn a higher salary than chemistry professors. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, associate professors of chemistry earn the most pay in the health care industry with an average salary of $89,174. Whereas chemistry professors have higher pay in the professional industry, with an average salary of $68,042.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Associate professors of chemistry tend to reach lower levels of education than chemistry professors. In fact, they're 14.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Chemistry professor vs. Adjunct professor of chemistry
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a chemistry professor is likely to be skilled in "teach chemistry," "curriculum development," "environmental chemistry," and "chemical engineering," while a typical adjunct professor of chemistry is skilled in "laboratory safety," "lab reports," "lab experiments," and "introductory chemistry."
Adjunct professors of chemistry typically earn similar educational levels compared to chemistry professors. Specifically, they're 4.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 2.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Chemistry professor vs. Analytical chemistry teacher
Even though a few skill sets overlap between chemistry professors and analytical chemistry teachers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a chemistry professor might have more use for skills like "laboratory courses," "teach chemistry," "analytical chemistry," and "chemistry lab." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of analytical chemistry teachers require skills like "liquid chromatography," "analytical instruments," "gmp," and "chemical analysis. "
In general, analytical chemistry teachers hold lower degree levels compared to chemistry professors. Analytical chemistry teachers are 11.9% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 15.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of chemistry professor
Updated January 8, 2025
