For District III Director: David J. Lohse

Division of Polymeric Materials: Science & Engineering (Trenton Section). ExxonMobil Research & Engineering Co., Annandale, N. J. (Retired)

Academic record: Michigan State University, B.S. (Physics), 1974; B.S. (Computer Science), 1974; University of Illinois, Ph.D. (Materials Science), 1978

Honors: ACS Fellow, 2010; Cooperative Research Award, ACS Division of Polymeric Materials: Science & Engineering, 2010; Distinguished Service Award, ACS Division of Polymeric Materials: Science & Engineering, 2008; Polymeric Materials: Science & Engineering, fellow, 2005; American Physical Society, fellow, 2000; NRC/NSF Postdoctoral Fellow, 1978–80

Professional positions (for past 10 years): Retired, June 2011; ExxonMobil Research & Engineering Co., Corporate Strategic Research Labs, distinguished research associate, 1988–2011; Exxon Chemical Co., staff engineer, 1980–88

Service in ACS national offices: Council Policy Committee, (nonvoting), 2010; Committee on Divisional Activities, 2005–10, chair, 2010, committee associate, 2004; Board Committee on Planning, (nonvoting), 2010

Service in ACS offices: Member of ACS since 1977. Multidisciplinary Program Planning Group, chair, 2011; Polymeric Materials: Science & Engineering Division: councilor, 2003–11, chair, 1998, chair-elect, 1997, vice chair, 1996, secretary, 1995, program chair, 1993

Member: American Physical Society, New York Academy of Sciences, Society of Plastics Engineers. ACS Divisions: Polymer Chemistry, Polymeric Materials: Science & Engineering

Related activities: Editorial boards, European Polymer Journal, Advances in Polymer Technology; chair of seven symposia at ACS national meetings; Polymer Symposium, chair, MARM, 1992; New York Academy of Sciences, Polymers Section, chair, 1990–92; Rubber Division Meeting, symposium chair, 1986; 116 peer-reviewed publications (including coauthoring the book “Polymeric Compatibilizers”); more than 100 invited talks at national and international meetings; 36 granted U.S. patents

LOHSE’S STATEMENT

I am honored to stand as a candidate to represent District III as a director. ACS has played a critical role in my scientific career for the past 35 years, and I am glad to serve ACS to help foster the careers of others in the chemical enterprise. Here are a few of the many challenges and opportunities we face in ACS:

Maintaining our strengths. There are many ways in which we need to grow, but the first priority is to secure those aspects of ACS that have made it the premier scientific society in the world. One part of this is to ensure the sustainability of ACS by keeping it financially strong. We must also make sure that the various components of our organization—local sections, technical divisions, professional staff, and committees—have the means to be strong contributors to ACS. As a member of the Divisional Activities Committee (DAC) for the past six years, and especially as chair in 2010, I have seen how critical is the interaction between ACS as a whole and its constituent parts. We restructured the divisional allocation formula both to support the programming that helped make ACS meetings as strong as possible and also to ensure that the divisions stay relevant to the needs of their own members. Only from such a strong foundation can we build ACS out in the new directions we need to grow for the future.

Serving chemistry at the borders with other disciplines. Although the main structure of ACS is well suited to support the development of science and technology in the core areas of chemistry, we also need to find ways to give the same support in those areas that fall between traditional disciplines. One way to do this is to help the divisions meet the needs of the membership by adapting their structure to changes in these fields, as we have done in DAC by helping new divisions form and facilitating others to merge. The thematic programming at national meetings that has been run by the Multidisciplinary Program Planning Group for the past several years is another way to encourage programming at these interfaces, and I continue to be involved in this effort as chair of MPPG in 2011. These programs have been an increasingly popular part of the meetings and have attracted the participation of many chemists and other scientists who might otherwise not have been at an ACS meeting.

Supporting chemists in industry. Perhaps the greatest impact of this multidisciplinarity can be seen in the way it affects our industrial members. They are still the largest fraction of ACS membership, but they face rapid changes. In recent years, there have been great shifts in the ways they do their research and development, the way their companies are organized, and even in what kinds of organizations they are found. Particularly in the pharmaceutical industry, there are many folks who are doing chemistry even if it is not labeled as such. We need to support them in new ways, such as better delivery of the information they need, more recognition of their efforts (say, through the Fellows program), and increased assistance with transitions in their careers. A good dialogue with them on how to support them better will be important to the growth of ACS.

Staying relevant to younger chemists (and chemists-to-be). Equally important as the need to support those who already are chemists is to encourage our youth to enter chemistry and to help them grow into the next generation of leaders. It is necessary that we provide educators from the primary level on up with the means to excite young people with the promise and opportunity in chemistry and all sciences. ACS must continually adapt its message through the use of new media because this is where youth look for their information. In DAC, we were able to help disseminate some of the information from the national meetings electronically, and we were happy to see that many educators are incorporating this into their curriculum. We need to share the informational riches of the chemical enterprise with young people in ways that will mean the most to them.

I have benefited immensely from the many opportunities and services provided by ACS, and I would be proud to repay the society for that if you select me as director for District III.