The University of Oklahoma
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Presents Two Lectureship Series

The J. Clarence Karcher Lectures
Frontiers In Chemical Research

The Rosetta Briegel Barton Lectures
Frontiers in Biochemical Research

The J. Clarence Karcher Fund and the Rosetta Briegel Barton Fund have supported the visits of prominent chemists and biochemists to the University of Oklahoma to interact directly with students and faculty and to present lectures describing their current research. These lecture series have provided a stimulating exposure to a wide range of chemical and biochemical problems at the frontiers of research.

Rosetta Briegel Barton, the first woman faculty member of the Department of Chemistry at OU, was highly regarded as an excellent and inspiring teacher. She joined the faculty in 1916, heading the division of quantitative analysis after receiving her bachelor's and master's degrees in chemistry from OU. The establishment of the Rosetta Briegel Barton Fund in her memory by her family and former students in 1966 recognized her long-standing interest in food chemistry, nutrition and biochemistry.

Dr. J. Clarence Karcher, a 1916 alumnus of OU, was the primary developer of the reflection seismographic method of oil exploration nearly 70 years ago. The genesis of his scientific achievement occurred early in 1917, when he conceived of using reflected sound waves to map underground oil and gas deposits. His $1 million gift to OU in 1976 was the largest received by a university for academic purposes up to that time, and the Karcher Fund has been used to enrich and improve the chemistry, physics and mathematics programs at OU.

View the current lecture schedule.