July 3, 2007

New Leadership

Victor McCrary Takes The Helm At NOBCChE

New president wants to broaden the organization's reach

Linda Wang

Victor R. McCrary has taken office as the new president of the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists & Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE). He started on July 1, and his term is for two years.

McCrary, who is the business area executive for science and technology at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physical Laboratory (APL), succeeds Joseph S. Francisco, the William E. Moore Distinguished Professor of Physics Chemistry at Purdue University.

One of McCrary's short-term goals is to reach across to other minority technical organizations, such as the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and the Society of Women Engineers. "While we represent very different constituencies, many of our goals are common," McCrary says.

In addition, McCrary says he would also like for NOBCChE to extend its reach beyond the U.S. By engaging internationally, he explains, the organization can encourage collaborations between scientists in the U.S. and scientists abroad. "NOBCChE has been more of a national organization," he says. "I want to see NOBCChE as an international organization."

McCrary is a past vice president of NOBCChE and has also served as the organization's vice chair. He has a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from Howard University, in Washington, D.C.

Prior to joining APL, McCrary was chief of the convergent information systems division at the National Institute of Standards & Technology. He also worked at AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, N.J., where he conducted research in crystal growth for semiconductor lasers.

McCrary says that having worked in industry, government, and now academia, he brings a "customer-focused" perspective to the job. He says the organization needs to continually ask itself, "What do our members need?"

Moreover, McCrary wants people to remember that NOBCChE represents people of all ethnicities. "Whether you're African American, European American, or fill in the blank, you are NOBCChE," he says.

Chemical & Engineering News

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