For more than a century, the Columbia Chemistry Department has played a major role in the development of the study of chemistry in the US. Until World War II, Columbia University dominated the academic scene by numbers, graduating more PhDs and staffing more academic posts in chemistry than any other US university. Since the 1940s, graduate programs have grown and expanded at many other institutions, and now Columbia is known more for quality than for quantity. The department runs one of the best graduate research and training programs in the country, famous for its lively intellectual atmosphere and for the intensity of effort put forth by its faculty and students. The first year of graduate study is largely given to course work, the course requirements for each student being determined individually in accordance with previous training and interests. To some extent during the first year, and increasingly thereafter, students are engaged in research for the doctoral dissertation. Research is the most important part of the graduate program, and the selection of a sponsor to guide the research is the most important decision a student makes. To help with this decision, every faculty member discusses his or her research at colloquia held during the first term. Students choose a sponsor only after attending all these meetings and talking privately with at least three faculty members. All students are expected to complete the degree requirements and defend their dissertations within five years of entry into the program. The system works well, the percentage of entering students who complete the program is very high, and about twenty-five PhD degrees in Chemistry are awarded by the university each year.