Official Reports From The Anaheim, Calif., ACS Meeting

The major actions taken by the ACS Board and Council during the national meeting in Anaheim, Calif., on March 27–31 were reported in C&EN, April 4, page 9.

Reports of Society Committees

BUDGET & FINANCE

The Society Committee on Budget & Finance (B&F) met on March 26 to review the American Chemical Society’s 2010 financial performance. ACS ended 2010 with a net contribution from operations of $23.8 million, on revenues of $463.7 million and expenses of $439.9 million. This net contribution was $11.9 million favorable to the approved budget. After including the results of the Member Insurance Program and new ventures, the society’s overall net contribution for 2010 was $24.5 million, which was $13.6 million favorable to the approved budget. In addition, the society ended the year in compliance with four of the five ACS Board-established financial guidelines.

In other actions, the committee elected Robert L. Lichter as vice chair of the committee and voted to recommend to council that dues for 2012 be set at the fully escalated rate of $148. In addition, the committee received a report from its Subcommittee on Financial Impacts of Constitution & Bylaw Amendments on one petition slated for consideration, the Petition on Position Statements. Reports were also received from the Subcommittee on Communications on the activities of the subcommittee; the Subcommittee on Program Funding Requests, on the schedule and process to be followed for 2012 New Program Funding, Expansion & Program Reauthorization Requests; the Subcommittee on Committee Budgets, on its draft charge and work plan for 2011; and the Program Review Advisory Group (PRAG) on its planned activities in 2011.—Pat N. Confalone, Chair

EDUCATION

The Society Committee on Education (SOCED) voted to create a task force with the Division of Chemical Education charged with working with ACS staff to explore avenues for creating a chemistry teachers association or affiliation under the ACS umbrella to meet the needs of teachers at the middle and high school levels. SOCED approved a supplement about chemistry-based technology degree programs for the ACS Guidelines for Chemistry in Two-Year College Programs and accepted the report on the recent Two-Year College Chemistry Faculty Status Survey. The committee approved the development of two supplements on ethics and partnerships and asked the Committee on Professional Training to partner with it to create supplements on distance education and dual enrollment. SOCED formed working groups to review and recommend updates to three expiring policy statements on evolution, computer simulations, and visas. The committee received an update on preparations for the 44th International Chemistry Olympiad, which will be hosted by the U.S. in 2012. SOCED passed resolutions recognizing the 20th anniversary of undergraduate programming at ACS national meetings and the 75th anniversary of the Committee on Professional Training.—Mary K. Carroll, Chair

Board Committee Reports

Standing Committees

GRANTS & AWARDS

The Board Committee on Grants & Awards (G&A) met virtually on March 14.

The committee voted to recommend to the board a screened list of six nominees for the 2012 Priestley Medal and a screened list of five nominees for the 2012 Award for Volunteer Service to ACS.

The 2011 Awards Review Committee (ARC) reported that it will review 16 of the ACS national awards to ensure that the awards program continues to meet the objectives of the society.

The Fellows Oversight Committee provided a written report. The call for nominations for the Fellows Program opened and nominations were due May 2.

The ACS AWIS/AWARDS Action Group reported that the group has finalized a “Selection Committee Best Practices” document and a PowerPoint presentation, “Establishing a Fair Process for Selecting ACS Award Winners,” based on the findings of a gender equity workshop sponsored by the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, and the National Institutes of Health. The documents will be shared with selection committees to educate members on implicit bias and gender equity.

G&A voted to recommend to the board that Board Regulation III, Section 13, of the Charter, Constitution, Bylaws & Regulations (Bulletin 5) of the American Chemical Society be amended because the ACS PRF no longer provides a 1% allocation to the ACS Green Chemistry Institute as of Jan. 1, 2011.

Acting under delegated authority, the committee voted to add the Department of Energy’s Ernest Orlando Lawrence Awards to the list of external awards for which ACS provides nominations, and to invite the Division of Physical Chemistry to select a nominee and draft the nomination documents for this award.

Acting under delegated authority, the committee voted to make a minor change to the eligibility statement for the Dreyfus Foundation-sponsored ACS Award for Encouraging Women into Careers in the Chemical Sciences.

The committee discussed a possible new award with AkzoNobel, the AkzoNobel Science Award in the U.S., and the possibility of adding a cash award to the Priestley Medal. G&A reviewed a recommendation from the Program Review Advisory Group (PRAG) to include the Heroes of Chemistry award in the national awards ceremony and decided that industrial chemical scientists and their executives are better recognized in a stand-alone event that specifically focuses on the achievements of chemists in industry. Finally, the committee received an update on the ACS PRF patent issue.—Kent J. Voorhees, Chair

PROFESSIONAL & MEMBER RELATIONS

During its virtual meeting on March 21, the Committee on Professional & Member Relations (P&MR) approved requests for cosponsorship of the 2011 International Conference on Thermochemical Biomass Conversion Science and the International Union of Pure & Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) International Conference on Chemical Research Applied to World Needs.

P&MR reviewed the status of the new Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Board, including its final membership, which followed guidance by P&MR in December 2010. It was reported that the Professional Advancement Subcommittee had recently reviewed and provided comments on the draft 2011–12 chemistry workforce initiative, and the full committee provided additional suggestions in this area. The committee also received a status report from the Leadership Advisory Board.

P&MR was briefed on the transition to the Committee on Meetings & Expositions for oversight of the e-dissemination of meeting content. Key issues under discussion include the price of the content, the duration of archiving, and potential adjustments to the national meeting registration rate.

The committee discussed a suggestion by the chair of the ACS Committee on Nomenclature, Terminology & Symbols that ACS seek to improve communications to ACS committee chairs and other interested ACS members on issues being considered by IUPAC. The committee agreed to explore options to improve such communications. P&MR also considered a request for ACS financial support for the Malta V Conference in Paris in December 2011. Following discussion, P&MR made a recommendation to the ACS Board on a contribution and type of cosponsorship support.

P&MR also received reports on the status of ACS’s global alliances, its international chapters, and its role in the celebration of the International Year of Chemistry 2011.—Peter K. Dorhout, Chair
 
PUBLIC AFFAIRS & PUBLIC RELATIONS

The Committee on Public Affairs & Public Relations (PA&PR) met virtually on March 18.

The chair presented proposed 2011 committee goals that are aligned under Goals 4 and 5 of the ACS Strategic Plan for 2011 & Beyond. Under Goal 4, the chair proposed three goals that would increase ACS member involvement with Local Section Public Relations (LSPR) committees to create greater awareness and appreciation for the importance of chemistry and its practitioners in improving everyday life; facilitate greater LSPR public outreach activities to the media, local chambers of commerce, and service and other community-based organizations, with the goal of creating sustainable collaborations; and serve as role models and mentors for LSPR committees, the Chemistry Ambassador program, Sparkle training workshops for LSPR chairs, and other communications programs.

Under Goal 5, the chair proposed three goals intended to enhance ACS advocacy as follows:

• Evaluating new delivery mechanisms, systems, and metrics to ensure effective and timely communications to elected and governmental officials through the ACS Legislative Action Network (LAN).
• Serving as role models and mentors for Government Affairs Committee (GAC) chairs.
• Identifying ways to increase ACS member GAC local section involvement and increase frequency of local meetings with government officials, arranging for government officials to participate in local section meetings, recruiting more ACS members to join the GAC and the LAN and actively participate in the ACS Legislative Summit, Public Service Award ceremony, as well as other opportunities to advocate on behalf of ACS public policy priorities.

Committee members then discussed the goals described above and agreed to their adoption for 2011.

The chair reviewed highlights of governance-related advocacy activities, encouraged committee members to review a chart listing local section advocacy and communications outreach activities, reminded committee members that the PA&PR breakfast in Anaheim would be on March 28, and that the nominations window was open for ACS Fellows through May 2.

The committee received a presentation from ACS staff that examined the political situation in the 112th Congress, details of the FY 2011 and FY 2012 budgets for the federal science agencies, public opinion polling that ACS helped support, and upcoming changes in the chemistry programs of the key ACS federal research agencies. The presentation also discussed strategic advocacy planning being undertaken by the ACS Office of Public Affairs (OPA) to help facilitate success in the 112th Congress.

ACS staff presented a special improvement plan prepared jointly by the PA&PR Subcommittee on National Historic Chemical Landmarks and staff. The landmarks program went through its second Program Review Advisory Group (PRAG) assessment in mid-2010 and PRAG made several recommendations to improve the program. After discussion, the committee voted to adopt the recommendations and share them with PRAG. PRAG will assess progress attained in implementing the recommendations at its next review of the program in 2013.

PA&PR went through the annual process to prioritize the society’s public policy statements. Based on survey input received from both PA&PR members and ACS staff, policy statements were put into four tiers. After discussion, the committee voted to approve the advocacy priorities for 2011.

The committee received an overview of 2010 media results from OPA staff that covered print and electronic venues. Placement of ACS-generated content in 2010 exceeded results of 2009 despite a continued contraction in print media. The value of ACS print placements was $24 million in 2010 based on costs had ACS purchased equivalent space for display advertising. The chair commented on the importance of earned media versus purchased media and the level of success OPA was achieving in the earned media area. Staff outlined the ACS press room activities for the March 2011 Anaheim meeting, including the production of 30 press releases highlighting Anaheim technical papers as well as 20 press conferences.

Updates were then received on ACS and local section communications-related activities in support of the International Year of Chemistry (IYC) 2011. The update covered IYC Web presence projects, engagement with the media, activities by our members through the Chemistry Ambassador program, and a potential event in conjunction with the Obama Administration.—William F. Carroll Jr., Chair

PLANNING

The Planning Committee proceeded with the ongoing major revision of the ACS Strategic Plan for 2012 & Beyond during its meeting in Anaheim, and it approved a timeline that includes soliciting member and stakeholder input at an early stage of the process. In order to frame these interactions, possible areas for specific outcomes to be pursued were explored. The process this year will involve much more substantial change to the plan than in recent years. The committee also considered the society’s worldwide strategy, in close consultation with the board, and will consider “the voice of the member” carefully to guide these strategic deliberations. The committee is also assessing how global, international, or national the activities of the society are currently and what their scope should be.—Bonnie A. Charpentier, Chair

Other Board Standing and Joint Board-Council Committees

CHEMICAL ABSTRACTS SERVICE (Joint with Council)

The Committee on Chemical Abstracts Service (CCAS) met in executive session on March 25 and in open session jointly with the Joint Board-Council Committee on Publications on March 28. CAS management reported on a number of developments including 2010 database milestones: More than 5.6 million small molecules were added to the CAS Registry last year for a total of 56.1 million. Almost 1.3 million publications from journals, patents, and a wide variety of other sources were indexed in CA/CAplus, bringing total indexed publications to more than 33 million.

SciFinder enhancements since the last meeting were highlighted beginning with highlights from the upcoming April release. They included ranking reaction results by relevance; sorting reference results by citing references; and SciPlanner, a new way for SciFinder users to more quickly identify synthesis options to design the best pathways and organize search results in chemically intuitive ways. Key features reviewed from the December 2010 release included the addition of experimental procedures from six ACS journals and three patent offices and new reaction results displays that help chemists more efficiently evaluate synthesis options.

The committee continues to reach out to ACS members in a multitude of channels to support CCAS’s mission. Members have written articles for local sections’ newsletters as well as created a CCAS page within the ACS Network that ACS members and nonmembers alike can access. CCAS fulfills its charter by serving as a channel for the flow of information between society members (and users of CAS services), the ACS Governing Board for Publishing, and CAS management to help ensure that each party’s needs are researched, recognized, and represented.—Spiro D. Alexandratos, Chair

CHEMICAL SAFETY (Joint with Council)

During the recent ACS national meeting, the Committee on Chemical Safety (CCS) reported on the just-released book “Prudent Practices in the Laboratory: Handling & Management of Chemical Hazards, Updated Version,” developed by the National Academy of Sciences with funding from ACS. This book has been serving for decades as the standard for chemical laboratory safety practice. The revised edition has an expanded chapter on chemical management and delves into new areas, such as nanotechnology, laboratory security, and emergency planning. Current and past members of CCS contributed significantly to this publication.

Following completion of the book as well as completion of the Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board’s investigation of researcher Sheharbano (Sheri) Sangji’s death at the University of California, Los Angeles, the National Academies’ Board on Chemical Sciences & Technology convened a Safety Summit on academic laboratory safety. Roughly 40 people attended, including members of CCS.

All three CCS subcommittees have been working on a document describing the responsibilities of academic institutions and management leadership for ensuring safety. As the document develops, CCS will seek partnerships with other ACS committees and divisions.

CCS ships more than 20,000 copies of its publications to members and institutions. Because of an increase in the number of students and scientists from other countries working in U.S. laboratories, the committee noticed a demand for CCS publications in other countries. “Safety in Academic Chemistry Laboratories” has already been translated into Spanish and Arabic, and the committee is exploring translation into Indonesian. All committee publications can be downloaded from the CCS website at www.acs.org/safety. A number of committee members helped staff the Division of Chemical Health & Safety/CCS booth at the national meeting exposition, where they distributed several hundred copies of the academic safety publication. The booth presence provides the committee members with an opportunity to engage in discussions with ACS members and find out more about their safety concerns.

The subcommittees of CCS and its task force continue to produce useful publications and deepen relationships with ACS committees to enhance their commitment to promoting safety. Refinements and enhancements to the slide show on wearing safety goggles in laboratories is near completion and the Laboratory Chemical & Waste Management Task Force forwarded the book “Laboratory Waste Management: A Guidebook”to ACS for publication. The committee continues its commitment to the mission of ACS—improving people’s lives through the transforming power of chemistry—through safety.—Laurence J. Doemeny, Chair

CHEMISTRY & PUBLIC AFFAIRS

The Committee on Chemistry & Public Affairs (CCPA) advises and recommends ACS action on public policy matters involving the chemical sciences and technologies. CCPA also encourages and facilitates participation by the members of ACS in government relations.

In Anaheim, CCPA selected two Congressional Fellows from ACS member applicants to work in a congressional office during 2011–12. These fellows bring informed scientific perspectives to the issues on the congressional agenda. Recent college graduates, as well as more seasoned, midcareer applicants are encouraged to apply. CCPA also received written reports from the 2010–11 ACS Congressional Fellows, Jasmine Hunt Dimitrou, who is serving in the office of Sen. Richard Durbin, and Dale Orth, who is working in the office of Sen. John Rockefeller.

The committee explored new ways to support other ACS member advocacy activities. CCPA also began planning to partner with the Younger Chemists Committee at the fall ACS national meeting to organize training for legislative visits open to YCC members and any other interested ACS members.

Matthew Platz, director of the National Science Foundation’s Chemistry Division, gave CCPA an overview of his programs, priorities, and budget outlook for 2012. He also spoke about a new NSF program, Science, Engineering & Education for Sustainability (SEES).

CCPA received a legislative update from the ACS Office of Public Affairs (OPA) and also learned about the results of an OPA study of federal agency funding for chemistry, chemical engineering, and physical science research.—Connie J. Murphy, Chair

CHEMISTS WITH DISABILITIES

The Committee on Chemists with Disabilities (CWD) reorganized its subcommittees and identified and prioritized projects for the coming year. Those projects include digitizing an update of the CWD publication “Teaching Chemistry to Students With Disabilities,” providing tangible recognition to students and professionals with disabilities upon completion of presentations at ACS meetings, and extending our expertise to ACS membership at large by increased participation in the Career Consultant Network. CWD is taking advantage of the new capabilities available via the Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Board (D&I). Plans were made for future collaborations between CWD and other members of D&I to advance the society’s diversity and inclusion goals as outlined by the board of directors.—Judith A. Summers-Gates, Chair

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES

A Presidential Outreach Event was held at the Discovery Science Center in Anaheim in celebration of the International Year of Chemistry (IYC). More than 450 kids and adults attended this event and participated in hands-on activities hosted by ACS student chapters and the Committee on Community Activities (CCA).

CCA is pleased to announce that the second-quarter materials for the International Year of Chemistry (IYC), celebrating the energy theme of Chemists Celebrate Earth Day (CCED), are available in print and online. Local sections are encouraged to order their CCED materials by going to www.acs.org/store. ACS groups can also continue to use the first-quarter materials (see www.acs.org/iyc2011) to celebrate IYC.

CCA continues to prepare for the third- and fourth-quarter IYC celebrations. ACS local sections are encouraged to participate in these quarterly celebrations by hosting events, promoting the themes and their importance to the public, and sharing the many facts of chemistry with their local media. In addition, CCA is supporting the ACS-sponsored Pennies for PUR^™ Water fundraiser for IYC. Through this effort we are hoping to raise enough funds to be able to provide more than 1.5 million gallons of safe water for those in need.

The 25th anniversary of National Chemistry Week (NCW) will be held in 2012. The Program Promotion & Development subcommittee of CCA is preparing for a yearly celebration, including a special recognition of NCW coordinators. CCA is currently seeking volunteers to serve on the NCW 2012 and 2013 theme teams to assist with the development of outreach materials. If interested, e-mail ncw@acs.org.

The Evaluation & Technology Subcommittee and the Volunteer Engagement & Recognition Subcommittee will be monitoring local section participation in CCED and NCW, as well as continuing to conduct surveys to measure the impact of the committee’s outreach efforts and the amount being put into these activities by ACS volunteers. CCA thanks those who respond to surveys and provide feedback.—Lynn Hogue, Chair

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENT

The Committee on Environmental Improvement (CEI) continues work to enhance ACS sustainability activities. As part of our mission to educate the next generation of chemists and to ensure that they are aware of the difficult challenges of sustainability, CEI honored the second class of educators for outstanding contributions to sustainability education. The committee supported two students to attend the COP16 climate-change meeting in Cancun last year and is preparing to support attendance of a larger group at the COP17 meeting in Durban, South Africa, later this year.

Also consistent with CEI’s mission, the committee continues to develop the ACS sustainability Web presence. A beta site is now available, and the full website will officially launch in Denver at the fall ACS national meeting. Information is classified into three main areas: general content about sustainability, ways in which ACS is engaged in sustainability, and opportunities for members to become involved in sustainability efforts. The site should become a repository for information on the society’s involvement with the sustainability effort, and provide a critical means for members and nonmembers to learn more about how they can help create a sustainable future.

CEI is pleased to see greater attention placed on sustainability challenges for both the meetings and for ACS governance, and urges members and governance leaders to seek new opportunities to help the society demonstrate its commitment to sustainability.—Martin A. Abraham, Chair

INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES (Joint with Council)

For its meeting in Anaheim, the International Activities Committee (IAC) focused on refining its 2011 strategic goals and arrived at three key areas: to enhance ACS international collaborations to further chemistry’s role in addressing global challenges, to help extend the society’s engagements in international education and training, and to extend the excellent historical efforts and to support broader ACS participation in science and human rights.

IAC welcomed leaders from other societies including the International Union of Pure & Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), the Federation of Asian Chemical Societies, the German Chemical Society, the Canadian Society for Chemistry, the Royal Society of Chemistry, and the Latin American Federation of Chemical Associations.

IAC also approved petitions to honor the memory of Madame Marie Curie’s contributions to the chemical sciences and to express solidarity with our colleagues in Japan as they work to rebuild in the wake of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami tragedy.

At this year’s ACS national meeting in Anaheim IAC contributed two successful symposia: “International Collaboration in the Chemical Sciences: Best Practices”and “Scientific Freedom & Human Rights in the Chemical Sciences.” IAC is looking forward to enhancing its programming efforts in these areas at future meetings.

The committee received reports on ACS contributions to the celebration of the International Year of Chemistry 2011; the launch of IAC’s new Global Research Experiences, Exchanges & Training (GREET) Program; the 2011 American Association for the Advancement of Science Meeting in Washington, D.C., on Science Across Borders; the ACS Younger Chemists Committee’s Engagement in International Exchanges Programs; and the IUPAC 2011 World Congress in Puerto Rico.

Finally, IAC began discussions with the ACS Local Section Activities Committee and the Committee on Economic & Professional Affairs to explore common interests and priorities in global engagement in service to ACS members.—Judith L. Benham, Chair

MINORITY AFFAIRS (Joint with Council)

The Committee on Minority Affairs (CMA) met in Anaheim, and its Awards & Recognition Subcommittee discussed ways to improve the nomination process for targeted national ACS awards. One outcome is to come up with a list of 15 exemplary candidates every year across all the awards. CMA will also use contacts with sister organizations (the Society for Advancement of Chicanos & Native Americans in Science, the American Indian Science & Engineering Society, and the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists & Chemical Engineers) to identify strong candidates. A ChemLuminary Award will be presented in Denver. CMA is developing a list of excellent editorial candidates to submit when future searches are initiated, and is also reviewing nominations for the ACS Central Regional Meeting’s Stanley C. Israel Regional Award for Advancing Diversity in the Chemical Sciences.

The Membership Subcommittee is working on getting the first year of ACS membership dues waived for Project SEED students. CMA feels that the students are a strong pool for future members. In 2010, there were 450 students, of which 30% were chemistry majors. ACS Scholars receive their first year free, so their program will be used as a model. A recruitment mixer is planned for the ACS national meeting in Denver, and CMA will attend Sci-Mix to recruit student members into ACS. The minority-serving institutions previously identified—Howard University (Washington, D.C.), Morehouse College (Atlanta), Fisk University (Nashville), Texas A&M International University (Laredo), Dine College (Tsaile, Ariz.), and Haskell Indian Nations University (Lawrence, Kan.)—will be contacted through the student chapter advisers to inquire about their chapters.

The Marie Daly Task Force has identified four speakers for a Marie Daly Symposium, and we are still seeking more content for a film about her life. We would like to present the symposium and film after Jeanette Brown’s book on African American women chemists is released this fall.—Allison Aldridge, Chair

PATENTS & RELATED MATTERS (Joint with Council)

The Committee on Patents & Related Matters (CPRM) focuses on three main areas. First, CPRM provides ACS members and the general public with information about patents and other intellectual property issues. Second, CPRM proposes nominations of notable inventors for external national awards recognizing the innovations and inventions of chemists. Finally, CPRM monitors legislative and regulatory developments influencing intellectual property in ways that impact the chemical enterprise.

Over the past year, CPRM has monitored pending legislative efforts to reform the patent system and has begun exploring possible recommended changes to the ACS policy statement on U.S. Patent Reform. Our current statement incorporates compromise positions reflecting the diverse interests of the chemical enterprise.

CPRM has recommended nominees for the National Inventors Hall of Fame, the National Medal of Technology & Innovation, and the National Women’s Hall of Fame. CPRM also engages in educational outreach to help chemists and others understand the patent system. CPRM has partnered with ACS’s Chemistry & the Law Division to provide patent-related programming at national and regional meetings. In addition, CPRM has created numerous educational materials, many of which provide guidance regarding second careers in the area of intellectual property. CPRM’s materials are available on its new website.

CPRM has developed active working relationships with many governance units. If you are interested in working with us, please contact staff liaison David Smorodin at d_smorodin@acs.org.—James L. Chao, Chair

PROFESSIONAL TRAINING (Joint with Council)

At the March 2011 meeting, the Committee on Professional Training (CPT) evaluated periodic reports and updates from 45 approved college and university chemistry degree programs, met in conference with eight programs applying for ACS approval, and discussed progress reports from two applicants. The committee voted to approve one new program. The total number of colleges and universities offering ACS-approved bachelor’s degree programs in chemistry is now 664.

The committee approved an updated version of the ethics supplement to the ACS Guidelines, which will be available on the CPT Web pages at www.acs.org/cpt. Plans were finalized for two outreach meetings to be held at the ACS national meeting in Denver—one with the volunteers who make site visits to programs applying for ACS approval, and the other with the chairs of Ph.D.-granting departments. These meetings are part of CPT’s ongoing efforts to hear the concerns of members of the academic community and to update them on emerging trends in education that are identified through CPT’s surveys and program review activities.

In January, the final report on the survey of enrollments in selected chemistry courses in 2004–07 was published as a follow-on to a survey on enrollments in 2001–04. Both the reports and the data are available on the ACS website. The annual report of graduates for 2009–10 was approved and will be published later this year in Chemical & Engineering News. A new short survey that will collect data on the practices of chemistry departments with respect to online courses was approved for inclusion in the 2010–11 annual report cycle. The committee is also developing a longer survey that will attempt to measure the impact of the 2008 ACS guidelines on bachelor’s degree programs in chemistry. Finally, the committee celebrated its 75th anniversary with an open reception and a well-received symposium on the present and future of the ACS approval program.—Cynthia K. Larive, Chair

PUBLICATIONS (Joint with Council)

The Publications Committee (PUBS) elected Stephanie L. Brock as its vice chair.

The committee accepted the editorial monitoring reports and recommendations for Environmental Science & Technology and the Journal of Agricultural & Food Chemistry. The committee also deliberated regarding the reappointment of editors of these journals and submitted recommendations to the ACS Board of Directors. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Bioconjugate Chemistry, Chemical Research in Toxicology, and Langmuir will be monitored next.

The ACS Publications Web Strategy and Sales & Marketing teams—in association with colleagues in Editorial, Production, and Information Technology—have kept ACS in the forefront of high-impact, peer-reviewed science and the digital publishing revolution. The society’s high-quality journals have never been more accessible to, or consulted more frequently by, the scientific community around the world. ACS Mobile is expanding its award-winning iPhone and iPad mobile application to tablet and smartphone devices with Google’s Android operating system, as announced at the national meeting.

Partnering with Washington IT, Chemical & Engineering News has made significant progress in upgrading its technology base through a set of interrelated projects that will result in an end-to-end XML workflow, new content management and Web delivery platform, redesign of C&EN Online, and introduction of a mobile application for C&EN on multiple mobile delivery devices including the iPhone and iPad.

The Copyright Subcommittee discussed the updated Journal Publishing Agreement that was released in 2010. An outreach program to educate authors about copyright matters was proposed.—Kevin P. Gable, Chair

PUBLIC RELATIONS & COMMUNICATIONS

The Committee on Public Relations & Communications (CPRC) met in February in Washington, D.C., to develop plans and priorities for 2011. These include working closely with the Office of Public Affairs to support and expand the Chemistry Ambassadors program, local section public relations, and publicity for the International Year of Chemistry (IYC).

CPRC is pleased that the popular Sparkle communications workshop from the 1990s has been revitalized and will be held again in April 2011 for local section public relations chairs. Committee members will be part of the training team and will follow up with attendees to provide post-training support and mentoring. Tools are available at www.acs.org/chemistryambassadors under “media outreach.” The committee has discussed ways to develop Sparkle workshop content that is targeted for divisional PR chairs.

In Anaheim, CPRC promoted and participated in the IYC “Chemists Can Dance” event, which can be viewed at http://bit.ly/ChemDance. CPRC also assisted ACS members with “Speaking Simply about IYC.” This short, videotaped coaching session helps users develop compelling messages for family, friends, students, and others that describe the contributions of chemistry to each of the IYC themes: medicine, materials, energy, and water and the environment.

CPRC sought nominations for the committee’s Helen M. Free Award for Public Outreach. The application form was available at www.acs.org/helenfreeaward; the deadline was May 15. The committee is preparing a social media best practices guide that is expected to be available to other committees later this year.—Cheryl B. Frech, Chair

SCIENCE (Joint with Council)

The Committee on Science (ComSci) continues to make progress on its central initiative, the Alternative Energy Systems project. The project has three dimensions: science and technology, education, and policy. The scientific component is focused on hydrogen, solar, biofuels, and nuclear energy. Following a session on hydrogen in Boston, ComSci organized two successful forums in Anaheim on solar and nuclear energy. Regarding education, a special multidisciplinary symposium was held in Anaheim on community college approaches to renewable energy. Also, as part of the International Year of Chemistry celebration, ComSci is also organizing a forum at the IUPAC meeting in August in Puerto Rico.

ComSci has used symposia as just one of the tools to gather and communicate information about the alternative energy initiative and is now preparing to disseminate information through multiple platforms. For example, ComSci is developing a special segment on nuclear energy as part of an upcoming issue of the ACS Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research journal.

A second major cross-cutting issue being developed by ComSci is the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education to innovation and entrepreneurship initiative, which focuses on how to better prepare the next generation of scientists for discovery and entrepreneurship. A kickoff symposium was held in Anaheim on this issue. Regarding public policy, ComSci is currently reviewing ACS position statements on sustainability and scientific integrity and continues to work on developing energy policy recommendations.

In addition, following approval from the ACS Board, ComSci worked to submit a nomination on behalf of the society for the Presidential National Medal of Science. This medal is considered the nation’s highest honor for scientists and engineers. Finally, consistent with its mission, ComSci discussed several emerging issues at its meeting and has begun work on a strategic plan to provide a blueprint for future key directions.—Sadiq Shah, Chair

WOMEN CHEMISTS (Joint with Council)

Sunny Anaheim provided the Women Chemists Committee (WCC) with a perfect venue to sponsor or cosponsor events in recognition of the 13 women who are 2011 ACS national award recipients. Our congratulations to each of these outstanding scientists!

WCC served as the primary sponsor for three symposia in Anaheim. On Sunday afternoon the committee recognized the contributions of Mamie Moy in a symposium to honor her ACS Award for Encouraging Women into Careers in the Chemical Sciences. Monday offered two symposia: “Recognizing & Preventing a Hostile Work Environment,” which provided a diverse array of perspectives on the subject, and “International Women in Science: Challenges & Triumphs,” which featured seven distinguished international women chemists.

In addition to recognizing established scientists, WCC, with continued support from Eli Lilly & Co., awarded 10 travel grants to young women presenting their research for the first time at a national venue. They joined more than 200 ACS meeting attendees for the WCC luncheon and heard keynote speaker Sherry J. Yennello, 2011 recipient of the Francis P. Garvan-John Olin Medal, give an inspiring and provocative talk on the challenges of balancing work and family life.

In an exciting collaborative effort, WCC is pleased to partner with the Divisions of Business Development & Management and Small Chemical Businesses to plan programming on the important subject of entrepreneurship. Plans were under way to provide programming opportunities at both the Northwest Regional Meeting (to be held in June) and the Southwest Regional Meeting (which will be held in November) in order to increase outreach opportunities to our constituents beyond the national meeting venue.
More information on our activities can be found at womenchemists.sites.acs.org.—Judith Cohen, Chair

YOUNGER CHEMISTS (Joint with Council)

The Younger Chemists Committee (YCC) continues to promote its vision to lead younger chemists into successful careers and active roles in ACS and the profession. Early this year, YCC, the Divisional Activities Committee, and the Local Section Activities Committee collaboratively surveyed the young chemist constituency on the perceived value that divisions and local sections provide. The 2,464 survey responses are currently being analyzed and will be shared at a later date.

Through a partnership with the European Younger Chemists Network, YCC has developed both a virtual and physical exchange program, with the goal of helping both U.S. and international younger chemists make connections and build professional relationships. On Monday, March 27, YCC and the Division of Professional Relations hosted our first virtual symposium, “Globalizing Education: Graduate School Opportunities in North America & Europe.” During the Denver national meeting, YCC and the Denver Local Section will host a physical exchange program. Seven young chemists from Germany, Spain, Finland, Austria, and Russia will attend and present posters at the upcoming ACS national meeting in Denver.

In November 2010, YCC selected the second group of CIBA Young Scientists Travel Award winners. The four recipients were awarded $500 travel grants to attend ACS national or regional meetings, present research, and participate in professional development activities. Additionally, YCC selected 15 Younger Chemist Leadership Development Award recipients. Awardees attended the 2011 ACS Leadership Institute in Fort Worth, Texas.

The YCC website (ycc.sites.acs.org) has been updated with new content and features focusing on relevant award and career information. YCC has also extended its online presence to many social networks such as the ACS Network, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, to engage more young chemists. Join us!

YCC is proud to have a representative on the newly formed Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Board. Through this board, YCC finds tremendous opportunity to advance diversity and inclusion of underrepresented populations in ACS and the chemical profession.—Dorothy Miller, Chair

Council Committee Reports

Elected Committees

COMMITTEES

The Committee on Committees (ConC) held its annual New Chairs Training Conference in Fort Worth, Texas, on Jan. 21–23 for eight new chairs and their staff liaisons as part of the ACS Leadership Institute.

ConC has begun developing its recommendations for 2012 committee chair appointments for consideration by the ACS President-Elect and the Chair of the Board of Directors, and continues to focus efforts to identify members with the requisite skills and expertise, using preference forms for councilors and noncouncilors.

A performance review for the Committee on Community Activities has been completed, and ConC’s recommendation for the continuation of this committee will appear on the council agenda for the 2011 fall national meeting. Performance reviews for the committees on Ethics, Project SEED, and Publications are under way, and it is expected that ConC’s recommendation for the continuation of these committees will appear on the council agenda at a national meeting next year.

ConC recommended that council approve a request from the Committee on Technician Affairs to amend the wording of “chemical technician” in its charter to “applied chemical technology professional.”

Committee preference forms will be sent to each councilor this spring. Additionally, an interest assessment form will continue to be sent out to all alternate councilors, as well as noncouncilor committee members.

ConC reviewed the proposed committee expense reimbursement policy of the Council Policy Committee-ConC Task Force and again expressed support for the principal of reimbursement for noncouncilor committee members.—Les W. McQuire, Chair

NOMINATIONS & ELECTIONS

The Town Hall Meeting held on Sunday, March 27, was very successful with excellent feedback from the Committee on Nominations & Elections (N&E) nominees for president-elect. Questions that were submitted at the Town Hall Meeting by the audience (including unused questions) will be provided to all nominees. N&E is considering ways to improve the Town Hall Meetings and welcomes feedback.

N&E is responsible for reviewing annually the distribution of member populations within the six electoral districts to ensure that the districts have equitable representation. According to Bylaw V, Section 4(a), the member population of each electoral district must be within 10% of the average number of members residing in each district. The six electoral districts are in compliance.

N&E continues to remind all ACS technical divisions and local sections that their elections must be conducted in compliance with their bylaws.

The committee developed slates of potential candidates for the Council Policy Committee (CPC) and the Committee on Committees (ConC) for 2012–14 terms. These slates will appear in the fall council agenda.

N&E solicits councilors’ input about qualified individuals for president-elect and/or directors for future consideration. Please submit these names to the committee at nomelect@acs.org.

N&E considered CPC’s Subcommittee on Constitution & Bylaws Report on Recorded Vote with Clickers, and voted to support the guidelines as presented.

N&E considered the “Petition on Position Statements, Bylaw XII” but took no position on this petition.

N&E is considering possible changes to board nominee and candidate eligibility. N&E currently does not consider more than one candidate or nominee for board member or president-elect from the same local section or employer within the same election year. N&E is considering whether there should be a limit for the number of board members or former board members being nominees or candidates for the same position at one time. As well, N&E is considering whether there should be a time period between being a board member and being a nominee for president-elect. N&E solicits your feedback on this issue. Please contact the committee at nomelect@acs.org.—Jack H. Breazeale, Chair

Standing Committees

CONSTITUTION & BYLAWS

Since the fall 2010 meeting, the Committee on Constitution & Bylaws (C&B) has reviewed proposed bylaw changes and submitted preliminary reports to four local sections and one division, and recently issued certified bylaws to the Syracuse and Baton Rouge Sections.

The Jan. 1, 2011, edition of Bulletin 5 is the authoritative version of the ACS Governing Documents, and is available on the Web at www.acs.org/bulletin5. You can also link to petitions, certified bylaws for all units, and guidelines on how to update bylaws.

ACS technical divisions and local sections should keep in mind that the certification process is not complete until they submit the required information and vote outcome to C&B, which certifies all unit bylaws. To update bylaws and bring them in compliance with the society’s governing documents, and to ensure that divisions and local sections have the right to conduct electronic voting, if that is their intent, they should request an editable document containing their bylaws from bylaws@acs.org.

There were no petitions for action in Anaheim. C&B presented one petition for consideration (“Petition on Position Statements”), which will be up for action at the ACS national meeting in Denver.

New petitions to amend the constitution or bylaws needed to be received by the society’s executive director by May 11 to be included in the council agenda, for consideration at the Denver national meeting.—Harmon B. Abrahamson, Chair

DIVISIONAL ACTIVITIES

The Divisional Activities Committee (DAC) is required to bring to council a formula for allocating dues funds to the divisions. It last addressed the council on this matter in 2008 and proposed the same formula from that year. The council voted to approve the formula as presented by DAC (which appeared on pages 69–70 in the Anaheim national meeting councilor agenda book).

DAC was briefed by staff on the introduction of a new software program, known as FORMS, that divisions are required to use to submit their annual administrative and financial reports. DAC understands that a number of divisions reported dissatisfaction with FORMS. Staff acknowledged the shortcomings and reported that many have already been remedied. Staff shared a plan with DAC that should produce a more uniformly satisfactory experience for all FORMS users. DAC will closely monitor this situation.

Some division officers have complained about the abstract deadlines for the ACS national meeting in Denver hitting just as the Anaheim meeting is starting. DAC has asked staff to provide a detailed report in Denver on why this occurs, and possible remedies.

The probationary Division of Catalysis Science & Technology continues to make progress in meeting the criteria to become a regular division of the society. As things stand now, DAC intends to recommend to council in Denver that it approve regular division status for Catalysis.

The Division of Fuel Chemistry and the Division of Petroleum Chemistry wish to combine. DAC and the Committee on Constitution & Bylaws continue to work together to provide an expedited, bylaw-compliant process to permit this to occur. Progress is being made, and as early as the Denver national meeting, DAC may recommend to council that it approve this combination of divisions.—John M. Pochan, Chair

ECONOMIC & PROFESSIONAL AFFAIRS

In Anaheim, the Committee on Economic & Professional Affairs (CEPA) focused on the plight of displaced workers and new graduates and, of course, the economy.

The committee heard a preliminary report from the Presidential Task Force on Innovation in the Chemical Enterprise: New Technologies for Society; New Jobs for Chemists, and will work to implement the recommendations of the task force when they are formally released later this year.

The unemployment rate for chemists in 2009 and 2010 was 3.9%, and 3.8%, respectively. These are the highest values observed since the society started collecting data in 1970. More distressing is the prevalence of long-term unemployed chemists (unemployed for more than a year). The average period of unemployment for a chemist is now 10.7 months. Three years ago it was approximately six months. CEPA is prioritizing assistance to this group of people who are at risk of being lost from the chemical workforce.

Equally distressing is the fact that the unemployment rates for new graduates are quite high. The unemployment rates for bachelor’s- and master’s-level chemists are higher than the national unemployment rate, while that of Ph.D. graduates is nearly the same as the national unemployment rate. As a result, many undergraduates are choosing to pursue advanced degrees, and Ph.D. graduates are being forced into the postdoctoral pool.

Unemployment Rate	2008	2009
Bachelor’s	14%	15%
Master’s	10%	18%
Doctorates	7%	9%

Source: ACS 2008 & 2009 Starting Salary Surveys

CEPA is working with the Graduate Education Advisory Board to address these issues so that new chemistry graduates can more readily gain employment in the chemical enterprise. CEPA is also collaborating with the International Activities Committee to develop resources for U.S. workers considering careers abroad, as well as public policy statements related to global employment.

The numbers of employers and job opportunities at the Career Fair in Anaheim were consistent with most other ACS career fairs held since the Great Recession began. However, these numbers were lower than at the fall 2010 ACS meeting, which was held in Boston.

	ACS Career Fair in Anaheim March 2011	ACS Virtual Career Fair November 2010
Job Seekers	795	2,513
Employers	39	26
Number of Jobs	182	196

Employers are hiring, but they don’t have enough positions to justify travel, and many of ACS’s unemployed members cannot afford to travel. Therefore, ACS Careers will host another Virtual Career Fair in conjunction with the ACS national meeting in Denver next fall, allowing employers and job seekers to interact both in person and virtually (www.acs.org/vcf).

CEPA continues to work to provide tools for chemical professionals to manage and develop their own career paths. Contact us at careers@acs.org.—Lisa M. Balbes, Chair

LOCAL SECTION ACTIVITIES

The Committee on Local Section Activities (LSAC) would like to thank the local sections that have completed their 2010 annual reports. For the 2010 reports, the SOLAR system was not capable of handling the submissions and had to be retired, forcing an expedited and partial release of the new system, called FORMS, which is being released in phases. A significant number of sections reported dissatisfaction with FORMS. The committee heard about actions intended to address and resolve the major problems encountered, and discussed additional functionality, yet to be added.

LSAC is supporting the ACS-sponsored Pennies for PUR^™ Water fundraiser for the International Year of Chemistry. Through this effort ACS is hoping to raise enough funds to be able to provide more than 1.5 million gallons of clean water for those in need.

Grant and program information can be found at www.acs.org/getinvolved.

LSAC and the Committee on International Activities will be offering a limited number of focused IYC grants to encourage local sections to showcase the work and research of international students, postdocs, and members residing in their sections.

The Online Speaker Directory is now active and is being used by local sections for their 2011 events. LSAC is reviewing new applications and will continue to add to the directory. Local sections are reminded to submit the evaluations from their speaker events and receipts to receive the $400 travel reimbursement.

LSAC reviewed 27 applications for Innovative Project Grants. Twenty-five grants will be funded for a total of $46,500. The committee planned to notify sections about their awards before the end of April.

LSAC approved a petition from the Northeastern Oklahoma Section to change its name to the Northern Oklahoma Section.—Lee H. Latimer, Chair

MEETINGS & EXPOSITIONS

The Committee on Meetings & Expositions (M&E) reported that the final number of attendees for the ACS national meeting in Anaheim was 14,059. The exposition had 418 booths representing 217 companies and exceeded projected revenue.

M&E also reported that the meeting attendees surveyed after the fall 2010 meeting in Boston gave an approval rating of 86%. For meetings in 2021, the committee made two recommendations to the board: San Antonio for the spring national meeting during March 21–25; and Boston for the fall national meeting during Aug. 22–26.

M&E reported on its collaboration efforts with DAC regarding implementation of the Electronic Dissemination of Meeting Content (EDMC). M&E took action on two recommendations from the Task Force on EDMC:

• M&E proposed to the board that a subscription model for access to the electronic content be developed and that the model should have different rates for ACS members and nonmembers.
• M&E recommended that after the 12-month period expires where ACS controls the EDMC content, the technical divisions be allowed to download the content to their websites. Divisions that do this will be responsible for all costs associated with this initiative.

The EDMC Report can be found online at www.acs.org/EDMC.

To support regional meetings, the committee voted to suspend indefinitely the implementation of cost sharing for abstracts. This action will eliminate the approximate $10 fee per abstract that was anticipated to take effect for regional meetings in 2012 and beyond. The committee did not suspend the implementation of the $4.00 charge per attendee for registration services for 2011 and beyond.

M&E, which continues to advance efforts to “green” ACS meetings, conducted a sustainability audit of the Anaheim meeting. The audit ensures that the facilities and vendors that ACS uses maintain their green contract commitments.—William R. Oliver, Chair

MEMBERSHIP AFFAIRS

The Membership Affairs Committee (MAC) recognizes that retention of current members is even more important than recruitment of new younger members. To learn how to better serve existing members, the Retention, Benefits & Services Subcommittee is collecting information from the ACS Member Services call center to learn the nature of member inquiries about society programs, complaints, comments, and feedback.

The committee received the report of the Board-Presidential Task Force on Society Services & Associated Dues Pricing Models and is pursuing a phased approach to the many recommendations. The recommendations generally fall into four categories: membership dues, benefits of membership, communication of the value of membership, and member input or feedback.

The first phase will involve developing a method for market testing in these areas. The Recruitment & Admissions Subcommittee of MAC has recommended that the society conduct tests to gather data before changing benefits, dues, or membership categories. Because our bylaws have been interpreted to preclude such testing in some circumstances, we are working with the Committee on Constitution & Bylaws to develop a petition to change the bylaws for this purpose.

A new Task Force on Member Insights was created that will focus on gathering input from various member groups across the society, as well as nonmembers or recently nonrenewed members. A series of face-to-face focus groups will provide a forum for this activity. MAC will work with other committees and staff resources to initiate these focus groups by the end of 2011.—Wayne E. Jones, Chair

Other Committees

ETHICS

The Ethics Committee met in Anaheim and discussed several topics. One item concerned the language used by Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) in its licensing agreements with university libraries for SciFinder Scholar. The committee expressed concern to CAS that the switch to digital content delivery that many university libraries have undertaken has precluded access to the scientific literature by nonacademic users in surrounding communities. This issue arose because the SciFinder Scholar contract expressly allows access only by faculty, staff, and students at the subscribing institution. The committee emphasized that its concern was noncommercial use by community members. After discussion, a change was mutually agreed upon in the SciFinder Scholar license to say “noncommercial use,” thus allowing for walk-in access to the chemical literature by interested community members.

A working group has been created to explore the feasibility of the committee applying for National Science Foundation funding to develop video case studies specific to chemistry. The working group will report back to the committee in Denver.

The Ethics Committee was involved in organizing two symposia at the Anaheim meeting. The first, sponsored by the Division of Chemical Health & Safety, was titled “What Does a Good Safety Program Look Like?” The second was “The Ethics of Publishing,” sponsored by the Division of Chemical Education.—David J. Chesney, Chair

NOMENCLATURE, TERMINOLOGY & SYMBOLS

The chair of the Committee on Nomenclature, Terminology & Symbols (NTS) reported that the International Committee on Weights & Measures has postponed action on new definitions of some International System of Units (SI) base units until 2015, leaving time for input from other interested organizations. In a straw poll, NTS voted in favor of drafting and submitting a policy statement about redefinition of the kilogram and the mole. A review of International year of Chemistry 2011 activities called attention to a HIST symposium, organized by a member of NTS, titled “What’s in a Name? Histories of Units & Constants,” which was scheduled for the next day.

NTS is still seeking ways to contribute to the chemical education thrusts and concerns of various units of the society.

Kathryn Hughes, National Research Council staff member, gave a report about the relationships among ACS, IUPAC, and National Academy of Sciences (NAS), bringing attention to some duplication of committee structure and some conflict of purpose or point of view. NAS, rather than ACS, is the U.S. organization that interacts directly with the International Union of Pure & Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). In most other countries, the adhering body is the residing chemical society representing chemists. This difference in IUPAC representation may cause U.S. chemists to be less aware of the scope of IUPAC activities. ACS development of international outreach programs has resulted in stronger ties between IUPAC and ACS.

The committee continued discussions on its future and engaged in a lengthy discussion and analysis of committee members’ responses to questions about the committee’s duties, strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities. Three subcommittees will report at the ACS national meeting in Denver on topics derived from the discussion.

The next meeting of NTS is an open meeting in Denver beginning at 2 PM on Aug. 29.—Peter F. Rusch, Chair

PROJECT SEED

The Project SEED program has been helping high school students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds to explore the world of chemistry through hands-on research experience. Project SEED has maintained an exceptional record of positive impact on young people. Each Project SEED student works with a mentor scientist conducting cutting-edge scientific research and learns about careers and educational opportunities in chemistry-related fields. To date, nearly 10,000 research experiences have been provided to SEED students.

 The 2010 exit survey confirmed that the program continues to serve low-income students. As result of their research experiences, approximately 250 students are planning to major in chemistry or other STEM disciplines. Project SEED exposed them to advanced chemical research and helped them gain important skills to succeed beyond high school.

The committee evaluated the 2011 research projects that will place approximately 425 students in more than 125 academic, government, and industrial laboratories to conduct meaningful chemistry research this summer. The estimated program cost, expended exclusively for student stipends, will be approximately $1,124,000. The committee will award 27 college scholarships to former SEED students for their freshman year studying chemistry. An additional three CIBA scholarships will be awarded to previous SEED scholarship recipients annually, bringing the total CIBA scholars to nine students. The committee thanks industry, academia, local sections, ACS friends and members, the ACS Petroleum Research Fund, and the Project SEED Endowment for generous contributions.

The committee encourages all members to continue using the dues check-off option on their ACS membership renewal to support this remarkable program.—Joshua J. Pak, Chair

TECHNICIAN AFFAIRS

The Committee on Technician Affairs (CTA) uses ACS governance channels and society resources to speak for applied chemical technology professionals. CTA’s goals are to raise public awareness of the value of technicians, to make technicians relevant to ACS, and to make ACS relevant to technicians.

CTA sponsored the National Chemical Technician Awards banquet on March 27. The winner of this year’s award was Bill Dellinger, senior technologist for R&D at Dow Chemical. Dellinger is the 23rd recipient of this annual award, which is presented in recognition of outstanding technical and communication skills, safety, reliability, leadership, teamwork, publications, and presentations.

CTA served as an active cosponsor with the Applied Chemical Technology Subdivision (ACTS) of the Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Division (I&EC) for the I&EC and Undergraduates: Collaborating for the Future symposium at the national meeting in Anaheim.

CTA’s Education Subcommittee continues to research and develop plans to produce a series of low-cost, online continuing education courses for applied chemical technology professionals. The Recognition & Career Progression Subcommittee discussed the administration of the Distinguished Service and Best Overall Technician Group Awards, as well as potential nominees for ACS Fellows for 2011. The subcommittee will explore utilization of existing career counseling and résumé writing resources within ACS in order to make the chemical technology professional community aware of these tools for career enhancement.

CTA continues to seek opportunities to collaborate with other stakeholders as it strives to advance the chemical enterprise and all of its practitioners. As such, CTA remains an active participant in diversity-related efforts of the society through its participation in the newly formed Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Board.—John K. Barrett, Chair

Chemical & Engineering News

ISSN 0009-2347

Copyright © 2011 American Chemical Society