Texas Wesleyan University’s chemistry and biochemistry programs have earned the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology accreditation.

Other than Wesleyan, only 62 other universities in the United States have been awarded this accreditation, according to txwes.edu.

Dr. Ricardo E. Rodriguez, dean of the School of Natural and Social Sciences, said the accreditation recognizes the quality of the program and of the students.

“Texas Wesleyan’s department is the only one in the [Dallas Fort Worth] metroplex that has received accreditation,” Rodriguez said.

Dr. Phillip Pelphrey, associate professor of chemistry and department chair, worked alongside Dr. Terrence Nuemann, assistant professor of chemistry, to map Wesleyan’s curriculum to the ASBMB guidelines to show the departments are teaching all the required material.

“Dr. Pelphrey and Dr. Neumann have been working on it for several years,” Rodriguez said. “There is quite a few steps they need to go through in order to apply.”

Pelphrey said Neumann, who wrote the majority of the proposal, originally brought the accreditation to his attention.

“I am not a biochemist by trade and was not aware of that organization,” Pelphery said. “So Dr. Neumann did the bulk of the lead work and dealt with the formatting of the work.”

Pelphrey considers this type of accreditation a huge benefit to the students.

“Outside employers or schools would look at the fact that they come from an accredited program [or programs]” Pelphrey said.

Dr. Katherine Prater, associate professor of chemistry, agreed with Pelphrey on how beneficial the accreditation is and that it is a huge boost for the School of Natural and Social Sciences.

“This is huge deal for us to say we have this accreditation,” Prater said. “A lot of prospective students, when they are looking at colleges and universities, they look to see if you have an accredited program.”

Prater hopes this accreditation will contribute to an increase in students interested in Wesleyan’s chemistry and biochemistry programs.

“It’s a big recruiting tool to be able to say that we have this nationally accredited program,” Prater said.