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Northeastern Section of the ACS Monthly Board Meeting Harvard University, Cambridge MA 4/14/11
Members and guests in Attendance: Ruth Tanner, Morton Hoffman, Esther Hopkins, Alfred Viola, John Podobinski, Raj (SB) Rajur, Jim Piper, James, Phillips, Mary Burgess, Marietta Schwartz, Robert Lichter, Katherine Lee, Michael Strem, Jerry Jasinski, Joe Billo, Michael Filosa, Michaeline Chen, Tom Gilbert, April Jewell, Mary Shultz, Patrick Gordon, Dorothy Phillips, Liming Shao, Vivian Walworth, Mary Mahaney
The meeting was called to order at 4:34pm with P. Gordon as the Chair
The minutes from Mar 2011 were not presented nor approved. This will be done at the meeting on May 12.
Chair: P. Gordon Offered thanks to Councilors for coming to the ACS Council meeting in Anaheim. Reported on the awards banquet and career information sessions at the meeting. Described his trip to Germany as part of the NESACS-GDCh Exchange. Provided information about the ACS Scholars.
Chair Elect: R. Tanner The Section has an advertised policy for reservations. Reservations not cancelled at least 24 hours in advance must be paid. In March, there were 6 reservations not paid. An invoice was sent to each of them. To date, four have been acknowledged. [See attached sample invoice.] Beginning in the Fall, PayPal will be used for the pre-payment of dinners. The October meeting (Tuesday, October 11, 2011) has been confirmed to be hosted by Schlumberger located on Hampshire Street in Cambridge. Lee Johnson is our liaison with the company. I traveled with our Exchange Group to Erlangen in March. The conference and visiting program were extremely successful, one of the best. April Jewell will have a full account.
Secretary pro tempore : M. Hoffman Circulated the attendance list
Treasurer: J. Piper See Treasurer’s report appended at the end of this report. Motion to accept report, seconded, passed.
Archivist: T. Frigo No written report
Trustees: M. Strem See Trustee’s report appended at the end of this report. Cash flow is well.
0d791c05dcaa63cc7c935c19d315ffb8.doc 1 of 20 Councilors: M. Hoffman Friday: As a member of the Society Committee on Education (SOCED), I attended the meetings of Subcommittee B (College/University) and the Executive Session of the full committee, as well as the Board-Committee luncheon and the joint SOCED-CPT (Committee on Professional Training) reception. Saturday: As the SOCED Liaison to the ACS International Activities Committee (ACS- IAC), I attended its luncheon and its open meeting. I also attended the reception in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the SOCED Task Force on Undergraduate Programming at ACS National Meetings. Sunday: As a member and as the CHED Liaison to the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), I attended the early-morning meeting of the CHED International Activities Committee (CHED-IAC). Afterward, I attended the symposium, luncheon, and reception in honor of Mike Strem. Monday: As a member of the Senior Chemists Task Force, I attended its morning meeting. Afterward, I attended the symposium on international collaborations at which Mike Strem spoke about the NESACS-YCC/GDCh-JCF Exchange. In the evening, I attended the ACS Board-Staff Reception as an invited guest. Tuesday: I attended the Senior Chemists Breakfast followed by the symposium on scientific freedom and human rights. As NESACS representative to the Board of Directors of the Northeast Region of the ACS, Inc., I attended the luncheon meeting of the Executive Committee. As a member of the Organizing Committee of the Malta Conferences on Scientific Research and Education in the Middle East, I attended its meeting to discuss plans for the fifth biennial meeting at UNESCO in Paris in December 2011. Later, I attended the District I Councilor Caucus and the ACS Awards Reception and Banquet. Wednesday: I attended the ACS Council Meeting as a NESACS Councilor. Later, I attended the CHED symposium on international educational initiatives; I made a presentation about the science study abroad programs at Boston University.
C. Jaworek-Lopes I participated in the CHED programming committee meeting on March 26, 2011. I participated in the Committee of Community Activities (CCA) Executive Session meeting on March 26, 2011. I served as chair of the Volunteer Engagement & Recognition Subcommittee. I attended the Theme Team Planning Meeting for CCED 2012 and NCW 2012 on March 27, 2011. The focus for CCED is recycling and the NCW theme is nanotechnology. I presented a poster entitled “Getting the Word out about IYC 2011: Environment and Energy” at the CHED general poster session on March 27, 2011. I attended Mike Strem’s reception on March 27, 2011 and the Awards Banquet on March 29, 2011. I attended the District I Councilor Caucus on March 29, 2011. I attended the Council Meeting on March 30, 2011.
Tom Gilbert
0d791c05dcaa63cc7c935c19d315ffb8.doc 2 of 20 Raised the issue that all four candidates who stood for nomination for President-Elect before Council in Anaheim are presently or were recently past members of the ACS Board. There was a discussion about a possible search within NESACS for some local candidates who might be willing to stand for national election.
Mary Jane Shultz I attended the 241st meeting of the American Chemical Society held in Anaheim, CA and engaged in the following activities. On Sunday morning, I presented an invited technical talk at the Physical Chemistry Chemical Reactions and Dynamics at Surfaces: Dynamics at Liquid Interfaces session. Monday morning I participated in the Women’s Chemists Committee session “Recognizing and Preventing a Hostile Work Environment.” Monday afternoon, I attended the NSF Town Hall session concerning the Federal Budget and current funding for chemistry. Monday Evening, I attended to Graduate Student and Post Doc reception. Tuesday morning I attended to Physical Chemistry Award Symposium. Tuesday afternoon, I attended to District I Councilors Caucus discussing issues that were likely to come up in the Council Meeting on Wednesday morning. Wednesday morning, I participated in the ACS Council meeting. The council is working out issues associated with electronic voting via clickers at the Council Meetings. Dues were raised by $2.00.
Standing Committees Budget Committee: J. Piper The Local Section Dues rate for 2012 needs to be set. The Budget Committee recommended increasing the dues from the current $20 to $25 or higher to offset the cost of meetings. Dues for very large sections in 2006 ranged from $10 to $15. The percentage of members who pay these voluntary dues averages around 57% and does not vary noticeably with the amount charged. The Northeastern Section dues increased from $16 to $20 in 2008. o Total dues income has been . 2006 56000 . 2007 57000 . 2008 67000 . 2009 62000 . 2010 62600 Motion: To increase local section dues to $25 for 2012. To be discussed under New Business.
Awards: D. Phillips No written report
Local Arrangements: M. Burgess The March meeting was held at the B.U. School of Management. The speaker was Peter Mahaffy, Kings College, Canada: “The International Year of Chemistry.”
0d791c05dcaa63cc7c935c19d315ffb8.doc 3 of 20 The April meeting will be held at the Harvard University Faculty Club, on April 14, 2011.The Esselen Award will be presented to Dr. Arthur J. Nozik, Senior Research Fellow, National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Professor Adjunct, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder.. The presentation of the award will be made by Gustavus J. Esselen IV. The title of the speech will be ”Prospects and Novel Approaches for Low Cost Power Conversion of Solar Photons to Electricity and Solar Fuels.”
Chemical Education: M. Schwartz Norris/Richards Summer Scholars o Eight applications for Norris/Richards Summer Scholarships have been received. The committee is reviewing them. Theodore William Richards Award for Excellence in Teaching Secondary School Chemistry o A call for nominations has gone out. Nominations are due April 15, 2011. The award will be presented in May 2011 at “Education Night”. Philip L. Levins Prize o No nominations were received this year. Undergraduate Day o We have pretty much given up on having Undergraduate Day this spring due to a lack of anyone willing/able to run it. I will try again next year! NSCRC o Will be held on Saturday, April 30th, at Northeastern University. YCC is organizing. Education Night (May) Will be held at Tufts University (same location as the Norris Award dinner). We will have a panel discussion on the topic of alternative energy sources (in keeping with the 2nd Quarter IYC topic) with panelists from both academia and industry. Lyman Newell Grants o A call for applications has gone out (the Lyman Newell Grants are for high school teachers to attend the summer NEACT conference). There is no deadline for applying; the summer conference this year is August 1-4, so awards will likely be made in July.
Board of Publications: V. Walworth No written report
Nucleus Editor: M. Filosa No written report
Web Report: M. Levine No written report
Constitution & By-laws: C. Costello No written report
0d791c05dcaa63cc7c935c19d315ffb8.doc 4 of 20 Membership: M. Chen 83 Welcome New Member” letters (there were 65 new members and 18 transfers from other sections to the Northeastern Section) were sent on March 21, 2011, to invite them to the Esselen Award Dinner Meeting on April 14, 2011. Dinner at the Harvard Faculty, 21 Quincy St., Cambridge, MA. Esselen Award presentation is at Pfizer Hall (MB 23)- Mallinckrodt Building, 12 Oxford St. Cambridge, MA
Nominations: J. McKew No written report
Professional Relations: M. Chorghade No written report
Public Relations: L. Johnson No written report
Special Committees Continuing Education: A. Viola The Chair of the Committee reported that he is stepping down after many years. The Board honored him for his long term of dedicated service by acclamation.
Fundraising: VACANT No written report
Government Relations: D. Lewis No written report
Esselen Award: A. Obemeyer The Esselen Award will be presented this evening to Dr. Arthur Nozik.
IYC 2011: M. Hoffman 1) Today, April 14, is the 104th day of the 365 days of IYC. According to the “ACS Celebrates IYC 2011” website
NASA’s Nimbus III weather satellite made the first civilian use of nuclear batteries, or “space batteries” in 1969. Officially known as Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs), the batteries have provided spacecraft power for many years.
Most recently, an RTG provides power for the New Horizons spacecraft which was launched January 19, 2006, from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center on a 9.5-year journey to explore
0d791c05dcaa63cc7c935c19d315ffb8.doc 5 of 20 Pluto and its moons. The spacecraft will receive heat and electricity from a long-lasting plutonium-238 powered generator developed and assembled by scientists and engineers at the DOE Idaho, Oak Ridge, and Los Alamos National Laboratories.
For the mission, the Department of Energy developed and delivered a radioisotope thermoelectric generator, or “RTG.” This “space battery” provides an uninterrupted and reliable source of heat and electricity in remote and harsh environments such as deep space. The RTG will provide power and heat for many years to the New Horizons spacecraft and its on-board scientific equipment through the radioactive decay of nuclear material. Heat generated by the radioactive decay of plutonium-238 is converted into electricity by solid- state thermoelectric devices.
2) The following report has been posted on the ACS Network for the first quarter of IYC; see
January: The 911th Meeting of NESACS took place on Thursday evening, January 13, at Sunovion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (formerly Sepracor, Inc.) in Marlborough, Mass., jointly with the Central Massachusetts Section to celebrate the beginning of IYC. Presiding at the after- dinner meeting was Dr. Liming Shao, Director of Medicinal Chemistry at Sunovion, and Chair of the Medicinal Chemistry Subsection of NESACS. Welcoming remarks were made by Mr. Nobuhiko Tamura, Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of Sunovion, Dr. John Williams, Chair of the Central Massachusetts Section, and Dr. Patrick Gordon, Chair of NESACS. Approximately 100 attendees heard Prof. J. Woodland Hastings of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, speak on Bioluminescence: Many Different Evolutionary Origins, Different Genes and Proteins, But Similar Chemical Intermediates.
The IYC First Quarter Cape Cod Science Café, which was scheduled for Wednesday, January 26, was postponed to February 1 due to blizzard conditions.
February: The IYC First Quarter Cape Cod Science Café, which had been re-scheduled for Tuesday, February 1, was postponed to March 1 due to blizzard conditions.
The 912th Meeting of NESACS took place on Tuesday evening, February 22, at the Holiday Inn in Brookline, Mass. Approximately 60 people braved the piles of snow to hear ACS President Nancy Jackson of Sandia National Laboratories speak on The State of Chemistry in the International Year of Chemistry; she stressed the importance of chemistry toward the solving of the most important global challenges.
March: The IYC First Quarter Cape Cod Science Café, which had been re-scheduled for Tuesday, March 1, was held at the Hyannis Golf Club at 6:30-9 p.m.; there was no blizzard. The theme of the meeting was Protecting the Water Supply on Cape Cod, and featured the following speakers: Dr. Krista Longnecker, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, A Scientific Perspective of Water on Cape Cod, and Susan Rask, Barnstable County Department of Health and Environment, Nitrogen and the Cape Cod Coastal Water Quality. Event sponsors included The Town of Barnstable, The Cape Cod Commission, Barnstable County Department of Health and Environment, and PID Analyzers, LLC. The event received extensive press and electronic coverage, and was enthusiastically received by the approximately 30 people in attendance. Dr. Jack Driscoll and Jennifer Maclachlan of PID Analyzers LLC, organized the event.
The 913th meeting of NESACS took place on Thursday evening, March 10, at Boston University. Prof. Peter Mahaffy of King’s University College in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, spoke about The International Year of Chemistry: Our Life, Our Future to approximately 80 attendees. He provided a view of the history and focus of IYC, its global scope, and examples of activities that a designed to highlight the central importance of chemistry in our
0d791c05dcaa63cc7c935c19d315ffb8.doc 6 of 20 lives and our future. Earlier in the day, Prof. Mahaffy was interviewed by Amanda Yarnell, Assistant Managing Editor, C&EN.
Prof. Mahaffy also met with members of the faculty and teaching staff in the Department of Chemistry at Boston University over lunch on Friday, March 11, and provoked them with remarks on “Indigestible, uninteresting, and uninspiring!” Is it time to think “outside the boxes” about teaching and learning general chemistry? Later, he presented a public lecture at Boston University on Changing Climate, Changing Understanding: Visualizing the Science of Climate Change, where he described the contributions to IYC activities that are being made by the King’s Centre for Visualization in Science in Edmonton, of which he is co-director.
3) The IYC Second Quarter Science Café (Topic: Alternative Energy and Sustainability) will be held on Friday, April 29, 2011, from 6:30-9:00 p.m. at the Hyannis Golf Club, Route 132, Hyannis, MA. The keynote speaker will be Prof. Daniel Nocera (M.I.T.); Prof. Walter Johnson (Suffolk University) and a representative of the Barnstable County Department of Health and Environment will also speak. The event, which is sponsored by NESACS, PID Analyzers LLC, The Cape Cod Commission, and the Town of Barnstable will be hosted by Jennifer Maclachlan and Dr. Jack Driscoll. RSVP before April 24, 2011, to Jennifer Maclachlan
Requests for seed mini-grants for IYC projects are being received and processed.
Medicinal Chemistry Group: R. Rajur The next NESACS medicinal chemistry symposium will be held on May 19th at the Holiday Inn, Woburn, MA . The symposium will focus on the topic “New Developments in Anti-Infective Research”. It is an afternoon symposium that will bring about 200 scientists and 4 well known speakers under one roof to discuss the current and future paradigm for the discovery of medicines in anti-infective therapeutic area.
Dr. Akbar Ali, Research Assistant Professor, UMASS Medical School, Worcester, MA will speak on SUBSTRATE ENVELOPE MODEL: A GENERAL STRUCTURE-BASED STRATEGY TO DESIGN INHIBITORS THAT AVOID DRUG RESISTANCE Dr. Michael R. Barbachyn, Ph.D. Director, Infection Chemistry, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, Waltham, MA, will present on CHALLENGES IN THE DISCOVERY OF NEW ANTIBACTERIAL AGENTS Dr. Chester A. Metcalf III, Ph.D. Vice President Discovery Chemistry, Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Lexington, MA, will focus on DISCOVERY OF NEW ANTIBACTERIAL AGENTS TARGETING GRAM-POSITIVE AND GRAM- NEGATIVE INFECTIONS We will have Social Hour and dinner followed by a Keynote presentation by Dr. NICHOLAS A MEANWELL, Ph.D., Executive Director, Department of Medicinal Chemistry Bristol-Myers Squibb Research & Development, Wallingford, CT. His presentation will focus on INHIBITORS OF HEPATITIS C VIRUS – A TALE OF TWO MECHANISMS
Update about the Medicinal Chemistry NESACS meeting on Thursday, September 8.
National Chemistry Week: C. Jaworek-Lopes No written report
0d791c05dcaa63cc7c935c19d315ffb8.doc 7 of 20 Norris Award: M. Shultz With one day left before the submission deadline, three new nominations have been received, adding to the 12 held over from last year’s competition.
NERM: M. Hoffman The Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the Northeast Region of the American Chemical Society, Inc., (NERACS) met in Anaheim on Tuesday, March 29, 2011, during the ACS national meeting. The following officers were present: Julianne Smist (Springfield College), Chair; Richard Cobb (Eastman Kodak), Vice Chair; Christopher Masi (Westfield State College), Secretary; Wayne Jones (Binghamton University), Treasurer. Also present were Nikki Fisher of the ACS Regional Meetings Office, and representatives of some of the local sections within NERACS, including this reporter. The Committee received an interim financial report from Martin Walker (SUNY Potsdam), General Chair of NERM 2010; presently there is a projected loss of a few thousand dollars that might be recovered when all the billing is resolved. Such a small loss would not pose a problem for the NERACS treasury. As has been reported previously, no NERM will be held in 2011. The Committee heard from Richard Hartmann (Nazareth College), General Chair of NERM 2012, about the plans for the meeting on Sunday-Wednesday, September 30-October 3, 2012, at the Radisson Hotel Riverside in Rochester, NY; see
Project Seed: C. Schnitzer No written report
Richard’s Award: R. Gordon No written report
Speakers’ Bureau: VACANT No written report
Summerthing: D. Lewis Reminder of Summerthing I on Sunday, July 17, at Tanglewood, and Summerthing II on Sunday, September 4, at Fenway Park. Details will be in the May issue of The NUCLEUS and on the NESACS website
Women’s Chemist Committee: P. Mabrouk No written report
0d791c05dcaa63cc7c935c19d315ffb8.doc 8 of 20 YCC: A. Jewell The YCC event with ACS President Dr. Nancy Jackson at Northeastern University on February 22, 2011, was quite successful. Dr. Jackson gave a brief presentation and answered questions from the audience. Topics included matters of national security, politics and science, and the struggles of being a female in a traditionally male- dominated field. The attendance was “standing-room only”. The Northeast Student Chemistry Research Conference will be on April 30, 2011, at Northeastern University’s Curry Student Center. The deadline for abstract submission was April 8th. As of that date we received >60 abstracts and >80 registrants for the event. Registration will remain open until at least April 22nd to allow others who might not want to submit abstracts but still come to be able to do so. As of April 8th, the NSYCC has secured corporate sponsorship in the amount of $1500 and sponsorship from other organizations in the amount of $400. Furthermore, Northeastern University has agreed to cover the cost of food at the event. We have also negotiated the receipt of promotional items from several corporate sponsors. We have also purchased reusable shopping bags with the NSCRC and NSYCC logos on them. Dr. Ruth Tanner has also taken steps to secure IYC pins for us to distribute at the event. Announced that more than 70 abstracts had been submitted and more than 100 participants are expected for the NSCRC on Saturday, April 30, at Northeastern University. Planning is underway for a leadership conference in the Fall that NESACS will co- sponsor, hopefully with ACS funding.
YCC / GDCh 2010 exchange: M. Strem / A. Jewell The 2011 Exchange is complete. Date: March 19-27, 2011. Destination: Erlangen, Germany This spring the German Chemical Society (Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker, GDCh) and its Young Chemists Forum (Jung-Chemikerforum, JCF) welcomed 12 representatives from NESACS’s Younger Chemists Committee (YCC). The delegates included ten graduate and two undergraduate students who had been selected during the fall by the German Exchange steering committee. Dr. Patrick Gordon (Emmanuel College and NESACS Chair), Dr. Ruth Tanner (University of Massachusetts Lowell and NESACS Chair Elect), Dr. John Podobinski (Cerulean Pharma, Inc.), and April Jewell (Tufts University and YCC Chair) accompanied the students on the trip to Erlangen, Germany. The experience began three weeks before the departure for Germany when the local participants met at Strem Chemicals for a tour of the facility and to share a sneak-peak of our research projects. A few weeks later, our international journey began on March 20th with our arrival in Erlangen where we were greeted by Evelyn Wuttke (JCF Chair), Markus Happel (Organizing Committee Chair for the Frühjahssymposium) and Elisabeth Kapatsina (GDCh Education Office), all of whom acted as our guides for the week’s various activities. The Frühjahssymposium (Spring Symposium) began on Wednesday night with a welcome reception and was in full swing for the remainder of the week with plenary lectures, invited lectures and student presentations. The plenary lecturers included Dr. Hans-Joachim Freund, a physical chemist who works in the areas of heterogeneous
0d791c05dcaa63cc7c935c19d315ffb8.doc 9 of 20 catalysis and surface chemistry at the Fritz Haber Institute, and Dr. Leticia González, a theoretical chemist at the University Jena whose research focuses on modeling photochemically driven molecular rotation. Three students from our local section contributed oral presentations at the conference: Kathryn Bewley (Boston University), Laura Brozek (Boston College) and Joseph Wzorek (Harvard University). The other delegates presented posters on their research on Thursday afternoon and Saturday morning. Throughout the conference, our students had many opportunities to network and socialize with the JCF constituents. At the conclusion of the conference, awards were given for outstanding oral and poster presentations. Out of the >200 presenters, three from the NESACS/YCC group were awarded with these prestigious recognitions – one-third of the total prizes awarded. For their talks, Kathryn Bewley and Joseph Wzorek won the 2nd and 3rd place prizes, respectively; Allison Greene (Boston College) won the 2nd place poster prize. Each award included a certificate and a chemistry related textbook. Our week also included several chemistry-related activities. During a visit to the University Erlangen-Nürnberg we learned much about the exciting chemistry taking place in the Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy. To learn about their ongoing research activities, visit their website at http://www.chemie.uni-erlangen.org/index.shtml. At the company Eckart we were treated to an informative presentation about the business of manufacturing and marketing so called “effect pigments” and a tour of the facility where such pigments are made. We also visited Knauf Gips – a company that specializes in building materials. While at Knauf we were lead into an active mine where the company acquires the raw materials for its dry wall and insulation products. We also toured the production factory, the logistics center and their R&D center, which included highly sophisticated, cutting-edge instrumentation. The facilities at Eckart and Knauf are not typically open to the public – in fact, we were forbidden from taking pictures with our own cameras! Even so, our guides were informative and highly forthcoming when answering all of our questions. We are grateful to our GDCh/JFC hosts for arranging these activities and to the companies for allowing us such unrestricted access. The trip wasn’t all business, however, as we had opportunities to visit the many beautiful tourist attractions in southern Germany. One particularly pleasant afternoon included a trip to Würzberg for a guided tour of Residenz Würzberg – the palatial former residence of the Würzberg prince-bishop. The exchange participants will also all fondly remember the Conference Party, for which the organizers reserved a private room at a nightclub in Erlangen’s city center. We danced the night away with over 100 of our new friends! Overall, the 11th Annual NSYCC/NESACS – JCF/GDCh Exchange was another in a long line of successful exchanges between the two organizations. We not only learned about the exciting and ongoing research efforts of our European counterparts, but we also developed some wonderful new friendships. The 14th Frühjahssymposium will be in Rostock, Germany in March 2012, and promises to be a rich experience for all involved. Students in the NESACS region should be on the lookout for application materials in the fall of 2011. 2011 Exchange Participants: Sadik Antwi-Boampong (Dartmouth College), Kathryn Bewley (Boston University), Laura Brozek (Boston College), Melissa Brulotte (Bridgewater State University), Katie Ellis (Boston University), Allison Greene (Boston College), Lauren Gregor (Boston University), Timothy Lawton (Tufts University), June Lum (Boston University), Alexander Speed (Harvard University), Anupong
0d791c05dcaa63cc7c935c19d315ffb8.doc 10 of 20 Tangpeerachaikul (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), and Joseph Wzorek (Harvard University).
BAGIM: K. Mattes No written report
ACS Fellows Nominating Committee: P. Gordon No written report. Reminder of the May 2nd deadline for nominations report (later extended to May 9)
Old Business There was no old business.
New Business A motion was brought by the Budget Committee to increase the NESACS local section dues from $20 to $25 for 2012; see written report. After vigorous discussion, an amendment was moved and seconded to increase the dues to $22 for 2012. The amendment passed; the motion passed, 18 ayes, 1 nay, and 2 abstentions. R. Tanner o The ACS Office of International Activities requested our Section to assist with the work of Seeding Labs, a nonprofit organization in the Boston area. Seeding Labs supports and expands scientific research in developing countries by providing affordable reclaimed laboratory equipment and facilitation connections with the global community. o I seem to remember that the Board felt that there were some downsides in sending used equipment to labs which may not be able to support them in terms of repair, getting parts, etc. There was a reluctance to put out a call for equipment. However, putting the information for them on our website with the appropriate links, I seem to recall, was the service the Section would offer. o Patrick Gordon is following up with Liezel Perez at the ACS Office of International Activities and with Nina Dudnik, the founder of Seeding Labs.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:40 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted
Morton Hoffman, Secretary pro tempore
0d791c05dcaa63cc7c935c19d315ffb8.doc 11 of 20 0d791c05dcaa63cc7c935c19d315ffb8.doc 12 of 20 0d791c05dcaa63cc7c935c19d315ffb8.doc 13 of 20 0d791c05dcaa63cc7c935c19d315ffb8.doc 14 of 20 0d791c05dcaa63cc7c935c19d315ffb8.doc 15 of 20 COUNCILOR TALKING POINTS SUMMARY OF GOVERNANCE ACTIONS/REPORTS
AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 241st ACS NATIONAL MEETING ANAHEIM, CA MARCH 27-31, 2011
The following summary is provided to help Councilors report to their local sections and divisions on key actions of the ACS Council and Board of Directors at the 2011 spring national meeting. ACTIONS OF THE COUNCIL Election Results
The Committee on Nominations and Elections presented to the Council the following nominees for selection as candidates for President-Elect, 2012: Judith L. Benham, Dennis Chamot, Diane Grob Schmidt, and Marinda Li Wu. By electronic ballot, the Council selected Dennis Chamot and Marinda Li Wu as candidates for 2012 President-Elect. These two candidates, along with any candidates selected via petitions, will stand for election in the Fall National Election.
The Committee on Nominations and Elections announced the results of the election to select candidates from the list of nominees to represent District III and District VI on the Board of Directors for the term 2012-2014. Nominees for District III included Susan B. Butts, Pat N. Confalone, David J. Lohse, and Judith A. Summers-Gates. Nominees for District VI included G. Bryan Balazs, Bonnie A. Charpentier, Carlos G. Gutierrez, and Victor J. Hruby. By mail ballot, the Councilors from these districts selected Pat N. Confalone and David J. Lohse as District III candidates; and Bonnie A. Charpentier and Carlos G. Gutierrez as District VI candidates. Ballots will be mailed on or before October 10 to all members in District III and District VI for election of a Director from each District.
Candidates for Directors-at-Large
The Committee on Nominations and Elections announced the selection of the following candidates for Directors-at-Large for a 2012-2014 term: Ken B. Anderson, William F. Carroll, Jr., Charles E. Kolb, and Barbara A. Sawrey. The election of two Directors-at-Large will be conducted in the fall. Ballots will be mailed to the Council on or before October 10.
Change in Committee Charge
The Council VOTED to amend the charter of the Committee on Technician Affairs to include updated terminology.
The Society’s Finances
In spite of the economic challenges faced in 2010, the Society’s operating performance held up remarkably well. Total revenue was $463.7 million, up +0.8% from 2009, and $2.4 million (+0.5%) higher than the 2010 budget. The Net from Operations was $23.8 million, or $11.9 million favorable to budget. This resulted largely from cost containment initiatives and lower-than-budgeted salaries and fringe benefits.
2012 Member Dues
The Council VOTED to set the member dues for 2012 at the fully escalated rate of $148. This rate is established pursuant to an inflation-adjustment formula in the ACS Constitution and Bylaws.
Petitions to Amend the Constitution and Bylaws
(For Consideration)
0d791c05dcaa63cc7c935c19d315ffb8.doc 16 of 20 The Council received one petition for consideration: The Petition on Position Statements. The Petition on Position Statements seeks to assure that the Board of Directors has primacy in issuing position statements that establish policy for the full Society and that Society bodies other than the Board may issue statements on issues that fall solely in their jurisdiction so long as they do not impair other Society bodies’ ability to do the same. Action is expected on this petition at the fall Council meeting.
Local Section Name Change and Grant Deadlines
The Council VOTED to change the name of the Northeast Oklahoma Section to the Northern Oklahoma Section. This name change is due to the recent merger of the North Central Oklahoma Section and its territories into the Northeast Oklahoma Section. The proposed name change more closely reflects the combined territories of the two Sections.
The Council was reminded of grant deadlines from the Committee on Local Section Activities as follows:
o Science Café Grants – Ongoing o Bridging the Gap: Student Member Grant – December 1 o Bridging the Gap: IYC Grant – June 1 o Innovative Project Grants – June 30 o Joint LSAC/IAC International Interaction Grant – TBA
Division Allotment Calculator
The Council VOTED to continue for three years the current formula for determining allotments to divisions.
Member Statistics
Membership recruitment efforts were exceptionally successful in 2010. It is particularly impressive that due to efficiencies in recruiting efforts, the net cost to recruit the more than 25,000 new members decreased from $122 per member in 2008 to $67 in 2010 despite increases in costs for postage and printing. The official membership number for 2011 stands at 163,111.
Attendance Report
As of March 30, 2011, the ACS spring national meeting had attracted 14,047 registrants as follows: Regular attendees, 7,336; Students, 4,682; Exhibitors, 1,097; Exposition only, 599; and Guests, 333.
Petition to Charter New International Chemical Sciences Chapters
The Council VOTED to authorize the formation of the following two new international chemical sciences chapters: the Shanghai International Chemical Sciences Chapter and the Thailand International Chemical Sciences Chapter.
ACTIONS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The Board’s Committees, Advisory Boards and Working Groups
The Board of Directors received reports from the Committees on Professional & Member Relations (P&MR), Grants and Awards (G&A), and Planning, along with its Executive Committee.
The Committee on Grants and Awards presented the Board with a screened list of nominees for the 2012 Priestley Medal and the 2012 Award for Volunteer Service to the ACS. The Board VOTED to approve the screened lists, and will now vote on, and announce, the winners of these two awards after its June meeting. On the recommendation of G&A, the Board VOTED that Regulation III, Section 13, paragraph 2 (and related language) be removed from the Charter, Constitution, Bylaws and Regulations (Bulletin 5) of the American
0d791c05dcaa63cc7c935c19d315ffb8.doc 17 of 20 Chemical Society, because effective January 1, 2011, the ACS Petroleum Research Fund no longer provides a 1% allocation to the ACS Green Chemistry Institute®.
The Chair briefed the Board on items arising from the Executive Committee meeting, including agreement of the Board’s role at the Leadership Institute and attendance at various other conferences and events.
On the recommendation of the Board Logistics and Training group, the Board agreed to change the group’s name to the Board Operations and Technology Team. Several topics were presented with regard to improving the effectiveness of Board operations.
The Board received a thorough report from the Presidential Task Force on Innovation in the Chemical Enterprise: New Technologies for the Society, New Jobs for Chemists. The Board heard the task force report recommendations on how ACS could help entrepreneurs create U.S. jobs for chemists. The Board reached consensus in support of the next steps outlined by the task force. The recommendations from this report will be sent to all Councilors.
Strategic Issue: ACS Worldwide Strategy
At this meeting, the Board continued its discussion of a Society Worldwide strategy as a follow-up to the strategic issues retreat in January, and is also involving the Planning Committee in a more thorough review to engage other members and stakeholders in these discussions. The Board plans to wrap up its ACS Worldwide strategy discussions by year-end.
Plan for a Financial Planning Conference
Every three to five years, the Board, with the Committee on Budget and Finance, holds a conference to discuss in greater detail the Society’s finances and its financial objectives. In Anaheim, the Board was briefed on the preliminary plans and desired outcomes for the 2011 Financial Planning Conference, to be held in June. The theme for this conference is “Ensuring the Society’s Financial Sustainability and Growth in a Period of Extraordinary Change.”
The Executive Director/CEO Report
The Executive Director/CEO and several of her direct reports updated the Board on the activities of CAS (Chemical Abstracts Service), the ACS Publications Division, and the Society’s General Counsel. The General Counsel report included an update on the ACS vs. Leadscope litigation. ACS’s appeal, which is supported by several prominent Ohio organizations and the Ohio Attorney General, has been accepted by the Ohio Supreme Court, and is under review by that body. As a follow-up to the Publications report, the Board VOTED to approve three editor reappointments to ACS journals.
Compensation of Society Executive Staff
The Board received a report from its Committee on Executive Compensation and VOTED to approve several actions relative to compensation for the Society’s Executive staff. The compensation of the Society’s Executive staff receives regular review from the Board.
Other Society Issues
The Board received a report from the President-Elect on plans and priorities during his presidential year. The Board also reviewed and discussed the presidential succession budget - particularly in light of increasing international and domestic travel demands.
The Board VOTED to ratify several consent actions taken since its December meeting, including editor appointments, an appointment to the Board Committee on Executive Compensation, and a reappointment to the Governing Board for Publishing.
The Society’s International Activities
0d791c05dcaa63cc7c935c19d315ffb8.doc 18 of 20 The American Chemical Society and the Federation of Asian Chemical Societies (a federation of 28 chemical societies of countries and territories in the Asia Pacific) agreed to a three-year collaboration alliance characterized by mutual benefits, impact, and commitment to cooperation in service to chemical scientists, engineers and professionals represented by the respective organizations. The signing of this memorandum of understanding took place during a special ceremony at the Board’s regular session.
The Board also received reports from several international guests representing the following scientific societies: the Chemical Society for Canada, the Latin American Federation of Chemical Associations, the German Chemical Society, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), the Mexican Chemical Society, the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), and the Federation of Asian Chemical Societies.
ADDITIONAL TALKING POINTS
BUILDING A ROBUST WORKFORCE IN THE U.S.
AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 241st ACS NATIONAL MEETING ANAHEIM, CA MARCH 27-31, 2011
From the beginning of Joseph Francisco’s presidential succession, he has focused on one overarching theme —ensuring that aspiring chemists and seasoned professionals in the U.S. have the skill sets, resources, and external environment to build and sustain a robust workforce in the U.S. Given the historic job losses in our enterprise in the past few years, he felt that this was by far his most important priority.
Last year at the ACS spring meeting, a Presidential symposium explored the skills needed by industry in a global environment and what universities could do to provide those skills. Also last year, President Francisco appointed two presidential task forces, both of which have now come to fruition. One task force completed its work late last year and developed the concept of an ACS international center, which would be the first place a U.S. chemist would come to learn about international education, research, and employment opportunities abroad and a non U.S. chemist would come to learn about those same opportunities in the U.S.
The second task force was charged with ensuring that the U.S. remains the most innovative and entrepreneurial country in the world. This task force was headed by Harvard University professor and entrepreneur George Whitesides and comprised eminent members of the chemical enterprise from industry, academia, and government, all with experience in entrepreneurship. They outlined the current landscape of innovation in chemistry, broadly defined; defined barriers and opportunities for stimulating innovation; and recommended specific programs that ACS could implement to help chemists become innovators and entrepreneurs and thus create new, high-paying sustainable jobs in the U.S. and stem further job losses
The Task Force had many recommendations, which fall into four major categories.
First, the task force recommended that ACS should develop a single organizational unit—a kind of “technological farmers’ market”—offering affordable (or free) help to entrepreneurs. This unit is envisioned as supporting entrepreneurs by facilitating more affordable access to resources that should foster the creation of small companies from startups. Relevant resources might include information, management expertise, key services, and mentors. The unit could also support entrepreneurs in making introductions to much-needed capital and fostering partnerships with large companies. ACS staff and several ACS governance units are already exploring how this one-stop portal can be implemented.
Second, the task force recommended that ACS should increase its advocacy of policies at the federal and state level to improve the business environment for entrepreneurs and startup companies. The task force suggested that ACS should urge reforms within the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to assure more accurate patents and faster issuance. The USPTO has a backlog of 700,000 patents, and the slow pace of issuance is a deterrent to keeping the U.S. competitive. ACS needs to lobby for legislative reforms, but in addition, ACS has talented unemployed members who could be of assistance to patent examiners. ACS has
0d791c05dcaa63cc7c935c19d315ffb8.doc 19 of 20 written to the head of the USPTO and have already heard back that they are interested in exploring a number of ideas. The task force also outlined a number of financial policies that if enacted could encourage large companies to partner with small ones to promote entrepreneurship. These include preferential tax treatment for repatriated income invested in U.S.-based developers of technology and making the R&D tax credit more simplified, permanent, and transferable. And there was a host of other ideas.
The third recommendation urged ACS to partner more vigorously with academic institutions and other relevant organizations to promote awareness of career pathways and educational opportunities that involve or include entrepreneurship. The task force had several interesting suggestions that will be pursued by various staff and governance units.
And finally, the task force felt that ACS should increase public awareness of the value of early-stage entrepreneurship in the chemical enterprise with focused media coverage and information targeted to federal agencies that support chemistry. In addition, ACS should provide ways to recognize entrepreneurs publicly, to increase their visibility and enhance their opportunities for success.
In the near future, President Francisco plans to release the entire report to members, the public, and policymakers. If you have ideas, please send them to Madeleine Jacobs, [email protected].
As this Task Force was concluding its work, President Barack Obama delivered his January 2011 State of the Union Address. In that address, President Obama stated: “The first step in winning the future is encouraging American innovation. None of us can predict with certainty what the next big industry will be, or where the new jobs will come from. …What we can do—what America does better than anyone—is spark the creativity and imagination of our people.”
To that end, the American Chemical Society is positioned to help stimulate entrepreneurial activities across the chemical enterprise to help spark the creativity and imagination of our country’s chemists and thereby create quality jobs in the U.S.
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