Arthur F. Scott Chemistry Laboratory
This facility was built in 1992 with research labs and offices for both faculty and senior thesis students. It was named for chemistry professor Scott, whose association with the college from 1923 to 1979 included an extensive teaching career and service as college president.
The chemistry facility contains research labs and offices for both faculty and senior thesis students and houses a large assortment of research-quality instruments.
The department has made a commitment to integrating both the computer laboratory and instrumentation into as many classes as possible—from introductory chemistry to senior thesis research. In fact, one of the intro-chemistry labs is a neutron activation analysis of an unknown compound using the nuclear research reactor; a later lab examines the lattice structure of this same compound in the SGI imaging lab.
Scott was considered a pioneer for helping create a unique education facility—the nuclear research reactor. Reed is the only undergraduate college with a research reactor, and the reactor is the only one in the world operated primarily by students. Students can become reactor operators following a year of instruction and licensing by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.