The School of Molecular Sciences (SMS) is responsible for the study and teaching of the academic disciplines of chemistry and biochemistry at ASU.
At that time, the educational institution, a Normal School for the Territory of Arizona, “acquired...a supply of chemicals” for instructional purposes.
[2][5] In 1961, Geochemist Carleton B. Moore became the first director of the Center for Meteorite Studies,[6][7] which at the time was housed in the Department of Chemistry.
[7] In 1963, Peter R. Buseck, who pioneered high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) research on meteorites and terrestrial minerals.
The Bateman Physical Sciences Complex was named to honor his many contributions and years of service in 1977.
Rather than being discipline-based, the school's mission is to tackle important societal problems in medicine, technology, energy and the environment from an atomic and molecular perspective.