Clifford and Kitty Hach founded The Hach Company 1947, an analysis, instrumentation, and water chemistries business. As Kitty successfully developed the Hach business model, Clifford invented and reengineered analysis systems which greatly simplified traditional quantitative analysis. By reformulating colorimetric reagents, coupled with pre-calibration and pre-manufacturing, a convergence of analytical steps created a new simplification. Many of early Hach titrations and other tests gained national acceptance and recognition.

The foundation originated from within the Hach Company. Chemical sciences were the primary technical discipline at Hach, and Clifford and Kitty were concerned undergraduate chemistry is both underappreciated and underserved. In 1982, they established an internal operating foundation that provided six scholarships to undergraduate chemists from the states of Iowa, Colorado, and Wyoming. With the passing of Clifford and the sale of the company, the Hach Scientific Foundation became fully funded. In 2000, the foundation took on greater numbers of scholars and became non-operating, working through the university's expertise in selecting students based on our criteria of chemistry aptitude, interest, and need.

In the fall of 2005, the decision was made to focus solely on the high demand field of chemistry education, particularly from Kindergarten through high school. With a new tightly focused charter and a national deficit of content-strong chemistry teachers, a plan was put forth to partner scholarships for chemistry majors becoming teachers with all of the land-grant universities from around the country. The land-grant scholarship program began with the 2007-2008 academic year. In 2006, a scholarship program was also put in place for career chemists to become chemistry teachers. The Second Career Chemistry Teacher Scholarship is available to all students with chemistry work experience, a degree in chemistry, and acceptance into either masters in education/teacher certification program. In 2007, the Hach Scientific Foundation built a beautiful new home in south Fort Collins with a stand-alone building with a square footage increase from 820 to 3100 square. A picture of this building will forthcoming, upon its completion. Under the tutelage of Executive Director Bryce Hach, the Foundation has continued to grow in the breadth and depth of its national impact on chemistry education. At the present time, the Hach Scientific Foundation provides 200 scholarships across the country to over 80 different universities. Today, the Foundation works with other like-minded organizations also dedicated to chemistry education like the American Chemical Society (ACS).



The advisory board is made of four experts in chemistry education. Elnore Grow is a career chemistry teacher and president of the Colorado Chemistry Teacher' Association. Loretta Jones is a professor of chemistry education at the University of Northern Colorado and former chair of the division of chemical education with the American Chemical Society. Jan Lanting is the science coordinator for the Thompson School District in Loveland. Chris Lee is a chemistry teacher at Fort Collins High School.

Today the Hach Scientific Foundation is a thriving organization composed of a six person Board of Directors including Advisor Loel Sirovy, Executive Committee Chair Bruce Hach, Chairman Kitty Hach, Foundation Treasurer and Office Administrator Pat Smith, Executive Director Bryce Hach, and Bill Gunn.