School specialization made it into 3.x, as Turanil points out.
Alchemists were not school specialists, though. Is this the one from Spells & Magic ? The two other types of specialists there did not make it into the core 3.x rules.
Magic of Faerun has a Prestige Class called Master Alchemist. It is able to do more with potions than you can under the core rules.
For conversion purposes, being a standard Wizard with lots of ranks in the Craft (Alchemy) (3.5) or Alchemy (3.0) skill goes a long way. Take the Brew Potion feat at 3rd level (or at 5th Wizard level with the bonus feat), and you can now make potions. If you keep with the Item Creation feats, gradually working up to Wands, Rods, Staves, and Rings, you can play up the "this character focuses his magic through objects" aspect; but, the XP cost of making those items may prove prohibitive.
There is a nice set of variant rules in Unearthed Arcana that uses Craft Points to let you craft things "on the road". I am testing them in my current campaign, and I like the results so far.