The Department of Chemistry was founded under the leadership of the internationally renowned organic chemist Professor Ashima Chatterjee in 1941, two years after the establishment of Lady Brabourne College.

Dr. Ashima Chatterjee was honoured in the form of Google doodle dedicated by none other than Google on her birth centenary on September 23, 2017 It started for the students of Intermediate Science Level (+2). At that time the department had a paltry student strength of only twelve. Later in 1958 B.Sc Pass Course was introduced and again in 1960 the department started the Honours Undergraduate Course in Chemistry. In 1982, Biochemistry was introduced in the department as a special paper as per the syllabus of University of Calcutta. In addition the Higher Secondary curriculum was also taught in the department from the very beginning till 1999.

The department has been enriched over these long years by the presence of eminent faculty who have earned laurels as renowned educationists and researchers. The founder Head of the Department, Professor Ashima Chatterjee is one such name. She was later nominated as Member of Parliament. Other renowned teachers of the Department include Professor K. K. Rohatgi Mukherjee who served the department for a short period and Professor Bithika Bose who had a long association of 35 years with the Department. The Department was nurtured and took its present shape mostly under her guidance. She was highly enthusiastic about research and had set up her own research laboratory in the Department where she successfully guided students pursuing Ph.D degrees.

The Department of Chemistry started functioning as a full-fledged postgraduate department under the University of Calcutta from 1st September, 2016. This was a milestone achievement for the department.