ACS News

September 4, 2006

Volume 84, Number 36

pp. 58-74

ACS ELECTIONS

Candidates' Election Statements And Backgrounds

Four candidates will vie for the office of president-elect of the American Chemical Society for 2007 in this fall's election. They are Bruce E. Bursten, Yorke E. Rhodes, Bassam Z. Shakhashiri, and James A. Walsh. All four have had distinguished careers in academia. The successful candidate will serve as ACS president in 2008 and as a member of the ACS Board of Directors from 2007 to 2009.

Candidates for director of District I are Thomas R. Gilbert and incumbent Anne T. O'Brien. District I consists of members assigned to or residing in local sections with headquarters in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania (except the Erie, Penn-York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Southeastern Pennsylvania Sections), and Vermont; and those members with addresses in the states of New York and Pennsylvania and in the provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, and Quebec who are not assigned to local sections.

District V will also be holding elections for director. Candidates for director are John E. Adams and incumbent Judith L. Benham. District V consists of members assigned to or residing in local sections with headquarters in Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan (except the Detroit, Huron Valley, Kalamazoo, Michigan State University, Midland, and Western Michigan Sections), Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas (except the Brazosport, Central Texas, Dallas-Fort Worth, East Texas, Greater Houston, Heart O' Texas, Sabine-Neches, San Antonio, South Texas, Texas A&M, and Texas Coastal Bend Sections), and Wisconsin; and those members with addresses in Arkansas (except the counties of Hempstead, Miller, Lafayette, Columbia, Union, Ouachita, Calhoun, Bradley, Drew, and Ashley), Illinois (except the counties of Clark, Crawford, Edgar, and Lawrence), Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, certain counties in Texas, Wisconsin, Dickinson County (Michigan), and the province of Manitoba who are not assigned to local sections.

William (Jack) H. Breazeale Jr., incumbent Dennis Chamot, Peter K. Dorhout, Paul R. Jones, Valerie J. Kuck, Dorothy J. Phillips, and Marinda L. Wu are running for three director-at-large positions. The two candidates receiving the highest number of votes will serve a three-year term from 2007 to 2009. The candidate with the third highest vote total will fill a vacancy and serve a two-year term from 2007 to 2008.

All voting members of ACS will receive ballots enabling them to vote for the president-elect. Only members with mailing addresses in Districts I and V will receive ballots to vote for director from those districts. Only voting councilors will receive ballots for the director-at-large elections.

All ballots will be mailed on Sept. 25. The deadline for return of marked ballots to the ACS executive director is close of business on Nov. 3.

The ACS Committee on Nominations & Elections did not provide candidates with specific questions to frame their statements. Information about ACS policies for election and campaigning can be found in Bulletin V, Bylaw 5, Section 13 and in "Guidelines for Campaigning & Communication." Candidates' views have also been posted online at chemistry.org/election.

For President-Elect

Bursten's statement

I'm privileged to be asked to serve as a nominee for president of ACS. Our Society is a diverse collection of more than 150,000 members united by a love of chemistry and a desire to see its beauty and power used to better humanity and our environment. This simple and elegant goal leads to complex questions about education, sustainability, quality of life, employment, and legislation. The president has a small window of time to make a difference in these aspects of the lives of students and professionals in the chemical sciences. I relish the opportunity to make that difference.

As president of ACS, I would focus on two key areas:

• Education, particularly at the K-12 levels, and in the interface between secondary school and the university experience.
• Communication, where we need to do better at getting the message out about the relevance of chemistry to the public, to legislators, and, in many instances, to ourselves.

These are hardly original foci of nominees for president of ACS, but I hope to use my experience as an educator, researcher, and communicator, along with the strength of our Society, to make more than incremental progress in these areas. We as a Society need to utilize our strong voice as effectively as possible and need to keep pressing on these issues.

EDUCATION: THE KEY TO OUR FUTURE. I have spent my career in chemistry as a teacher, researcher, and academic administrator. My roles in academia have been endlessly satisfying, mainly because educators have such a capacity to make a difference. We have the opportunity to engage students in the wonder of chemistry, to excite students about their career paths, and to develop the next generation of researchers. What a privilege!

But those of us who have been teaching chemistry over the past 25 or more years have noticed disturbing trends in our entering college students. They are generally weaker in math than students used to be. They have memorized a lot of facts about chemistry but have very few skills in critical thinking about science. Many are obsessed with grades for new, potentially harmful reasons, such as grade-point-restricted state scholarships. The end result is that we, and other sciences, are producing a smaller number of U.S. science students at a time when the national and international need for well-trained scientists is critically great. The recent report from the National Academies "Rising Above the Gathering Storm" highlights the crisis in K-12 science and engineering education in the U.S.

ACS needs to use its prominent voice to translate these concerns into actions at all levels of the science education enterprise. As president of ACS, I would make science education reform, especially in K-12 education, one of my key agenda items.

THE CENTRALITY OF CHEMISTRY. I coauthored a general chemistry textbook entitled "Chemistry: The Central Science." That title reflects the message that my coauthors and I convey throughout our text−namely that chemistry is central to nearly all new scientific discoveries, including those in newly formed disciplines, such as nanotechnology and systems biology. I believe in, and am proud of, the centrality of chemistry and believe that a principal function of our Society needs to be the strong communication of this message to our stakeholders at all levels, from elementary school students and teachers to the legislators who control and prioritize funding for basic and applied research.

ACS should be much more effective at communicating the excitement and relevance of chemistry. We are fairly good at communicating among ourselves, but we simply do not do a good job of taking our message to the rest of our world. The American Chemistry Council has launched a marvelous public education campaign, essential₂, which highlights the importance of chemistry in health, innovation, the environment, and the economy. We need these positive and educational campaigns, and ACS needs to have a more prominent role in producing them. Stimulating new communication efforts will be the other key initiative I will undertake if elected.

CLOSING COMMENTS. The above items do not address other important issues to members of our Society, such as employment, globalization, and the changing landscape of research. These are obviously critical issues and ones that I would address as president. Nevertheless, I think that education and communication are the foundations of progress for our Society, and I hope that our efforts in other areas will be built on these dual pillars. If elected, I will be honored to work with you to achieve these ends.

Rhodes's statement

Who am I? ACS member, active participant, volunteer, active at many levels; New York Section, Organic Division, Regional Meeting participant, chair for graduate posters at MARM '05, and program chair for MARM '08 (MARM is Middle Atlantic Regional Meeting). Forty years of presentations at national meetings and chairing sessions. I've been a six-year member of the Local Section Activities Committee and served three years as chair of LSAC. I was one of the six persons on the Board-President Task Force on the Local Section & Division Funding Petition, approved in 2003. As LSAC Chair, I saw the Innovative Projects Fund inaugurated in 2004, bringing new funding to Local Sections−each section had a new opportunity at $3,000 for Innovative Projects. Innovative juices flowed to contribute something new. As chair of LSAC, I saw many changes, some that I witnessed, some that I effected, and some that I enabled: the change of National Chemistry Week to be part of the Office of Community Activities and not a task force after 15 years; the creation of Innovative Project Funds; the creation of local section and division planning group for joint activities; and the introduction of Leading Together, a Local Section newsletter, are examples.

I am one of ACS's most valuable assets, the volunteer. We add to the activities of 158,000 members. ACS has a hard-working, smoothly functioning staff, all of whom, members and staff, serve members in sections and divisions. Together, members and staff provide activities and services to help folks lead programs, stimulate others, promote chemistry, and educate all. I am one of those ACS members with experience at many levels in ACS, and I want to be your president in 2008. I ask for your vote in this fall's election, by ballot or electronically. I want and intend to become a president of and for all the membership.

ACS is more than volunteers. Myriad committees foster activities. True, some need sunset review, and Governance Review is working on that. Change is necessary. Council Policy Committee's role should be to focus on issues and policy and not review committee reports. CPC should live up to its name and reassert itself as a policy planning and setting group. Council itself is large, but it is representative-councilors need to be activated, inspired to take a creative role. I believe requiring competitive councilor elections would increase activity and eliminate some perpetual councilors. Term limitations can be effected in many ways. We're changing!

Of all the future issues that ACS faces, education is the most important and the most threatening problem we face. Who will do chemistry in five, 10, or 20 years? Where are they to come from? Who will educate them? Where will they work? The number of students entering science and engineering decreases, and foreign students stay home or go to other countries for graduate education. Without an audience, there won't be a future American science. We must promote adult education and help our society understand science, and we need constant attention to Congress to be sure they understand and support issues that are important to us.

My considerable international experience from meetings, international science visitations, research collaborations, and research leaves in Europe broaden my experience (Germany twice, France). I'm fluent in German and read French−I'm shocked at how little Americans understand foreign cultures. It affects our thinking and our policies and policy making. We need that understanding in our relations.

We must promote chemistry at every level, in all media (see my education statement in the Journal of Chemical Education). We need new interaction with elementary, middle school, and high school teachers. College curricula need change. It is our duty to educate the body politic toward science. Undergraduate research helps students breathe enthusiasm for chemistry. Our graduate curricula turn out narrow experts. How to bring general subjects to graduate education without diluting excellence specialists need? How can we help postdoctoral fellows? The Academic Employment Initiative is great and needs more university support. A separate poster session will be at MARM '08 for postdocs. How can ACS help to support the new graduates in their first years in academe or industry? We need to work together with industry. I will appoint education task forces to work on solving these problems that seriously affect our future.

We have a lot to do. I'm optimistic and enthusiastic about promoting and effecting change. We're good, and we can grow and improve more. I request your vote for Yorke Rhodes for president-elect in 2007, and I'll be happy to serve and be your advocate as president of our society. For more information, please see my website www.yorkerhodes.org.

Shakhashiri's statement

DOING OUR BEST FOR ACS AND SOCIETY. I am eager and able to accept the challenges and responsibilities of the presidency of the world's leading scientific organization to further serve the members of ACS and society at large. I ask for your vote to help me advance the mission of ACS, to maintain its preeminence, to strengthen its effectiveness, and to expand its contributions. I need your help for what is BEST for ACS:

• Benefit and enable members to flourish scientifically, economically, and professionally.
• Encourage creativity, innovation, collaboration, and competitiveness.
• Stimulate connections, partnerships, and effective communications.
• Teach chemistry well at all levels and communicate its importance to the public.

ACS is a membership organization, and we must strengthen its scientific, professional, and educational offerings to retain and attract members. I want ACS to better serve its members and to advance the professional status of chemists. ACS must adapt its programs and services to the rapidly changing world of science and technology. Change requires effective leadership with vision, focus, enthusiasm, care, and respect.

I have had much experience in thinking about and acting on important professional and societal aspects of chemistry. This has led me to declare often that the purpose of research is to advance knowledge, that the purpose of technology is to advance the human condition, and that the purpose of education is to enable individuals to fulfill their human potential.

Chemistry is a discipline practiced by highly competent and responsible professionals who are engaged in enterprises that are self-rewarding and can benefit society. I will devote my presidency to helping our members showcase the best of chemistry as it addresses significant human and societal issues.

I have reached many audiences through my scholarly activities and through my presentations on public and commercial radio and television; in national, international, and local newspapers and magazines; through my chemical demonstrations, books, and other publications; and through my public service in local, regional, national, and international arenas. These experiences are personally satisfying and have been well-received. My national leadership roles (e.g., founding director, Institute for Chemical Education; NSF chief education officer; founding director, Initiative for Science Literacy) will greatly help my effectiveness as your president.

Throughout my career I have promoted chemistry both as the central science and as the familiar science. The familiarity of chemistry has yet to be fully exploited in reaching all segments of society, especially the nonspecialists. We must increase awareness of chemicals, their transformations, hazards, and how they benefit our health, safety, and environment. ACS must improve and expand its role in leading all scientific groups in communicating the value of science and technology to the public at large and to decisionmakers in government and the private sector.

Chemistry brings a wide range of goods and functions to everyone and thus is vital to our democracy. Science literacy is necessary for the democratic process to work, and I am a tireless promoter of achieving it. I make a distinction between scientific literacy, expertise in a particular field, and science literacy, a broad appreciation and understanding of science and its practitioners, and of what science is capable of achieving and what it cannot accomplish. Science literacy enlightens and enables people to make informed choices; to be skeptical; to reject shams, quackery, and unproven conjecture; and to avoid being bamboozled into making foolish decisions where matters of science and technology are concerned. Science literacy is for everyone−chemists, artists, humanists, all professionals, the general public, youth and adults alike.

ACS must select and focus sharply on a careful agenda in pursuit of what it does best for its members and for society. My agenda includes ensuring the viability of ACS as a membership organization; strengthening what ACS does best through its publications, meetings, divisions, and sections; increasing public and private support for research and education; ensuring openness in ACS governance matters; advocating openness and integrity in the conduct of research and publication; addressing national security issues including chemical plant security and foreign scientist visas; dealing with globalization and its consequences; addressing environmental regulations; focusing on workforce needs and employment; enhancing quality, supply, and salaries of teachers; fostering international cooperation and collaboration in research and in education; promoting sustainable development; and improving scientific communications within and among different cultures.

The future of ACS depends on effective leadership and sustained member support. I will serve ACS as a grass-roots and uniting leader. I ask for your vote to do what is best for ACS, for science, and for society.

Walsh's statement

SEIZE THE FUTURE

Do we have problems? Yes! We live in troublesome times. Our profession is under attack. Our high standard of living was made possible by the advances of chemistry, yet these are not widely appreciated. Better students disdain chemistry; financial support for necessary research, both basic and applied, is in short supply; and the media vilify chemistry.

Can we do anything? Yes! Employment, education, advocacy, and communication are major concerns of our members and our Society. Sometimes we do these things well; other times, less so. There are a number of issues, I believe, on which our Society can, and should, do more. Here, space requirements limit me to two.

Members are among our valuable assets. Our strength and prestige can be traced to our member base: nearly 160,000. We are a membership organization. Our members are just as important an asset as our publications and reserves. Diminish one of these assets, and the organization will struggle. Remove one of these assets, and the organization will not survive in its present form. We should acknowledge this. This fact should inform all of our deliberations and decisions.

Ours is a throwaway culture. Jobs are lost through downsizing, export, liquidations, and mergers. Why is it that corporations that would never squander their financial resources think nothing of discarding their human resources? Our members study chemistry because that is where their interests and talents lie. However, chemical knowledge without related employment is wasted knowledge. Currently, our employment services are successful tools. We must continue to assist members in finding and retaining jobs. But we must not become complacent. We should provide more continuing education opportunities for those in stable positions and reeducation opportunities for those at risk. A consulting network for involuntary retirees who cannot find full-time employment is needed.

Scientific literacy. A large segment of the public is scientifically illiterate; many are chemophobic. What people do not understand breeds fear and, in time, antagonism. Such attitudes are readily transmitted from parents to children. Many college undergraduates avoid all contact with laboratory sciences. Upon graduation, they swell the ranks of the scientifically illiterate. Even students in teacher training programs avoid chemistry. Ironically, some end up teaching it in K-12 programs.

One person, in three years, cannot eliminate scientific illiteracy and chemophobia. We can make a determined start by generating an effective, self-sustaining program. I propose, with the help of the Committee on Science and the Division of Chemical Education, to establish pilot programs at six major centers of chemical education. The model will be the very successful program originated at McGill University by David Harpp and his colleagues. There will be two thrusts to the program: a series of courses aimed at nonscience majors and a lecture series for adult learners. When these courses are fully developed, we shall share them electronically with other institutions and promote their replication.

Do I have the necessary experience? Yes! I am familiar with the structure and operation of ACS governance. My learning curve will be short. With 24 years in council and with service on six committees (chairing one), I know that I can work effectively with council. As a longtime member of three divisions (now chairing one), I know the challenges and opportunities facing our divisions; I am sensitive to the member issues of professional status and career needs. Having chaired two local sections in quite different stages of development, I know firsthand the problems that threaten them. During more than 40 years of university teaching, with eight years as department chair and two years leading the academic senate, I learned what is required of one in a leadership position. I am experienced in motivating people, building consensus, and guiding an agenda.

Can we make a difference? Yes! Words and slogans are inadequate without actions. Change is inevitable. It is constant and appears to be accelerating. To ignore change is to risk being marginalized and made irrelevant. We must learn to adapt to change, to anticipate, and ultimately to manage it for our benefit. This adaptation must be careful, intelligent, and for compelling reasons. I have the time, willingness, and resolve to improve our Society. As your president, I will devote all of my time and energy to working on your behalf. I will always argue my convictions and vote my conscience. Together we can make a difference.

For District I Director

Gilbert's statement

I welcome this opportunity to present my administrative credentials and to describe what I would try to accomplish if elected as District I Director.

Past Service to ACS. Standard biographical information indicates what we candidates have been elected to do in the past but not what we accomplished. So, I offer these items for your consideration:

1. As chair of the Northeastern Section, I initiated changes in the section's governing documents that enabled the section to use more endowment income to support younger chemists. As a result, the section today remembers T. W. Richards as well as James Flack Norris not only through prestigious awards for senior chemists, but also through summer research scholarships for chemistry undergraduates.

2. As chair of the Council Committee on Meetings & Expositions, I led the effort to eliminate the chronic operating deficits afflicting national meetings. Through cost controls and revenue-generating measures approved by council, the finances for national meetings and expositions are now on an even keel.

3. As chair of the Task Force on Election Procedures, I led the effort to develop and enact constitution and bylaw changes that now give you the option of casting electronic ballots in ACS elections. The first national election with e-balloting was held last year. Participation was up substantially from the previous year, and nearly half the votes were cast electronically.

Future Service to Members. Too many members do not avail themselves of, or even know about, the spectrum of services available to them from ACS. If elected, I will work to develop an electronic communication system based on individual members' professional profiles. It will be used to apprise members of recent publications in their research areas, inform them of symposia at upcoming national or regional meetings, notify them of pending abstract submission deadlines for their divisions, gently remind them that they have not yet voted in a current election, and so on. Data from the membership survey conducted by the board's Committee on Professional & Member Relations will help identify other services that members would find most valuable when delivered in this way.

Education and Public Outreach. ACS has many successful outreach programs aimed at demonstrating how chemistry positively impacts all our lives. Ultimately, these programs will have limited impact as long as a majority of the public knows so little about science that they, for example, cannot distinguish between astronomy and astrology or dismiss scientific theories as merely unproven facts. ACS should join with AAAS and sister scientific societies in a vigorous frontal assault on science illiteracy in the United States. Only when the public understands the process of science can they understand the central role that chemistry and chemists play in the remarkable scientific and technological advances made in recent years.

Education and the Workforce. The U.S. chemical enterprise would have suffered from a dearth of talented chemists in recent years were it not for the large number of foreign chemists that joined our workforce. However, immigration restrictions coupled with growth in chemical R&D in India, China, and other countries mean that more of these chemists will pursue their careers in their native lands. We need to attract more bright American students to careers in chemistry. To make this happen, ACS needs to expand its efforts to give teachers the tools they need to teach chemistry more effectively.

We in ACS know that the fascinating part about being a chemist is the pursuit of knowledge that comes with designing, doing, and interpreting the results of experiments. We need to help teachers inject that sense of discovery in how they teach chemistry and, just as importantly, in how they assess student learning. ACS needs to collaborate with NSF, the College Board, and others to design K-12 curriculum and assessment strategies that strike a better balance between knowing chemical facts and understanding how those facts were discovered.

ACS must also constantly update its program approval criteria for preparing chemical scientists, recognizing that the greatest growth in the molecular sciences is coming at traditional discipline boundaries. ACS-approved programs need to include molecular and cell biology and experiences that allow students to relate the molecular structures of materials to their macroscopic properties. I will initiate and vigorously support education initiatives and professional training criteria that address the inherently interdisciplinary nature of current research in the chemical sciences.

If you agree with my goals and value my past service to ACS, then I hope you will support my candidacy.

O'Brien's statement

WHAT ARE MY GOALS? To continue to represent you, members of ACS, on your board of directors. You have elected me previously; I have worked seriously and earnestly to represent you. I ask now for your continued confidence in me for another term.

To honor you as the heart, the key asset, of ACS; to support what you want and need for your work; to connect you with colleagues; to give you influence and voice−to enable you to thrive. You are important, our nation's investment in its future.

To ensure that chemical sciences and scientists flourish in a rapidly evolving milieu.

WE ARE IN A DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENT. Our globe has flattened. The publishing and information worlds are changing rapidly and profoundly. A newly powerful Web runs interactive applications that will give you greater choice, more voice. Employment is moving in and out of the country; people are working in smaller companies and changing jobs more frequently. Federal funding emphasizes biological and medical research. A storm gathers-fewer science students in the U.S., greater difficulty attracting and keeping gifted students from other nations. Competition for funding stresses academics, and global competition presses on industrial chemists. Time is increasingly precious. It becomes more difficult to volunteer.

In response, I have:

• Encouraged use of technologies for you, the young at heart-RSS (alerting of your choice), wikis (build knowledge together), blogs (hear different views), podcasts (learn while on the move), virtual meetings ("meet" from home or work), e-mail communication (you prefer it!).
• Brought recommendations to the board (from the Multidisciplinarity and Globalization Reports and the Membership Survey) for interdisciplinary themes and more flexible, responsive programming; for greater attention to small business; for career services that acknowledge globalization; and many more.
• Visited dozens of offices on the Hill, importuning legislators to increase funding for physical science and education.
• Worked to widen ACS e-learning opportunities for members' career progress and development.
• Distributed ACS scholarships to Project SEED students in the inner city.

How can we take advantage of change, together? Going forward, I will work with you to:

• Give you an increasingly active voice-more input, more say, and more opportunity to have your views affect decisions using new Web applications.
• Create communities around emerging interdisciplinary or specialized fields, leveraging new networking and community-building tools.
• Deliver exactly the information you personally need, when and as you want it.
• Make the new www.chemistry.org the entry point of choice for all chemists-for members' sake, link out to helpful resources.
• Offer more lifelong learning and career development tools.
• Use the Legislative Action Network (LAN) to increase federal funding for education and research in the physical sciences and to take advantage of the dollars flowing to biological applications of chemistry.
• Fend off the gathering storm-fund our gifted, diverse youth to pursue science; use opportunities offered by the Competitiveness Initiative.
• Respect, welcome, and support teachers of science at every level.
• Make it easier to volunteer-offer more discrete, episodic opportunities for commitment.

OUR WORLD HAS CHANGED. STILL WE ARE THE SAME. We need community. We will keep ACS a human place. We need to see each other from time to time! ACS is where we belong. We want our professional home to be warm and welcoming-open to all who practice and use chemistry. We need the richness of diversity.

We will continue working together to advance chemical science as such, to encourage its integration with biology, medicine, material science, physics and the nano world-to push into frontier areas.

We need bold pursuit of shared values-a scientifically literate public with an improved image of chemistry (ACS Communications is working hard there); environmental responsibility (our Green Chemistry Institute); the nation's need for a superlative scientific and technological workforce; employment opportunity, lifelong learning, professional dignity, and development for all professionals in chemistry.

WHY VOTE FOR ME? Election by colleagues to the board's executive committee, chairing the Board Committee on Professional & Member Relations and the Percy Julian Task Force, work on Budget & Finance, Planning, Grants & Awards, Web Advisory Group, Program Review, Globalization Groups, and others-equip me to contribute to our current ACS needs.

Fifteen-plus years teaching in university, college, and high school-and 27-plus years in chemical information and management in industry-enable me to understand the concerns of educators, researchers, and industrial chemists. People are at the core of chemistry, its most important center!

Working together, we will achieve our shared goals!

For District V Director

Adams' statement

I appreciate this opportunity to be considered for election to ACS Board of Directors. ACS is an outstanding organization, serving its members, the chemical enterprise, and the public both nationally and at the local level. We justifiably can be proud of our world leadership in the delivery of chemical information, our advocacy for chemistry and chemists, our promotion of excellence in chemical education, and our public outreach activities such as National Chemistry Week. The mere fact that our members donate their talents and countless hours of their time in the design, administration, and execution of ACS programs testifies to the real value that they find in the Society as a professional "home." The real question, then, is how do we build on this base as we adapt to changing times?

I believe there are three principal challenges facing ACS in the immediate future: communications, education, and prioritization. Meeting the first of these challenges involves working "smarter" as an organization. Because the leadership of ACS involves hundreds of volunteers serving in local sections and divisions and on regional and national committees, ensuring that the left hand knows what the right hand is doing necessarily is problematic. Many initiatives pursued by well-intentioned committees languish between infrequent meetings (in the case of many Society governance committees and Division committees, these meetings often only occur in conjunction with the national meetings), and obtaining input from other interested committees often adds months to the process. Indeed, this slow pace of business−the most charitable characterization would be "deliberate"−contributes to the perception that ACS cannot react appropriately to changes in the discipline and profession. Instead of attributing this pace to structural inadequacies in the Society, though, I assert that we can overcome many of these hurdles by doubling our efforts to keep the communication lines open. Certainly, the ongoing redesign and reengineering of chemistry.org will help, but we also must embrace extant electronic resources that can facilitate our meetings and expedite the flow of business, that can bring to the (virtual) table interested parties in a timely fashion. Similarly, interdivision contacts, which are now far too sporadic, need to be facilitated and encouraged. Enhancing programming in multidisciplinary areas of research becomes far easier when the divisions are in regular communication and when the infrastructure encourages cooperation over competition.

The second challenge is education. Here I mean more than the curricula in elementary, secondary, and postsecondary schools in the "No Child Left Behind" era. I believe that the times demand a renewed commitment to education of the public. In short, we must all be teachers; we must all work to ensure that the best scientific evidence is injected into civil discourse. It is easy enough to sit on the sidelines and bemoan recent attacks on science and the scientific method while ignoring our responsibility to share our knowledge. ACS can aid our efforts by being a repository of resources and information for communicating the standards of proof and methods of investigation inherent to the progress of science. And we need not go it alone! Strategic alliances with other scientific organizations can help us leverage our own resources and magnify the impact of the message that we are disseminating.

The final challenge is prioritization. ACS is a complex, many-faceted organization. At times, it seems that ACS is trying to be everything to everybody, but our intuition and experience say that no organization really can do everything well. At some point, we have to stop and reexamine all our programs and decide which ones truly address the current needs of our members and do so within the framework of finite resources.

A review of current programs is, in fact, under way, but we must be prepared for this review to be an ongoing and at times painful exercise. We must ensure that each program makes efficient use of the human and financial resources at hand, we must question whether the demand for an existing program justifies its continuation in its current form, and we must discontinue or redirect that program if indeed it is not meeting the needs of the membership. Surely, this ongoing reassessment is essential to our stewardship of the resources of the Society, but it also must guide our efforts to deliver services of the highest quality to our members and their communities.

Benham's statement

CHALLENGE AND OPPORTUNITY

I am privileged to have served you on the ACS Board of Directors and am honored to have the opportunity to continue. ACS is an outstanding professional society, deriving many of its strengths from outstanding volunteer members. We are facing times of change-economic, political, technological, environmental, and social-on a global scale, providing challenge and opportunity. As the world's largest scientific society, we must revitalize ACS to meet the needs of our members and community. If I am reelected to the board of directors, my energies will be devoted to four key areas: membership, the public image of chemistry, Society finances, and communication.

ACS Membership comes from all sectors of the economy: industry, academia, and government. While needs are diverse, there are many common issues.

• Employment and career support are a top priority for our members. Economic uncertainty, affecting public and private sectors, causes our members to turn to ACS for high-quality employment services, assistance with career transitions, continuing education, and other career-skill enhancements. ACS must sponsor innovation and collaboration across the chemical enterprise, providing expanded opportunities for scientific employment.

• Local sections and divisions are the foundation of ACS, with their volunteer membership an indispensable asset of the Society. They provide technical programming, education, outreach, and interactions with communities, schools, and governments. These two groups must receive financial and operational support to foster collaboration and to allow each local section and division to develop and manage creative initiatives to expand impact.

• Education remains a cornerstone in an ever-changing environment. With national competitiveness in math, science, and technology challenged, we must renew our efforts to engage students in pursuit of excellence in science education. K-12 education must prepare younger students to appreciate the significance of science in their daily lives and provide background for those who pursue scientific careers. At postsecondary levels, we must ensure that all students-scientific or others-appreciate the importance of chemistry to society. We must increase dialogues between industry and academia to ensure that we are providing education that will meet the needs of future students and employers. ACS must take prominent and public leadership in these efforts.

• Multidisciplinarity in science research is expanding, creating new opportunities. ACS must provide leadership in programming, enhanced interactions with other professional societies, and new initiatives to support the scientific community.

The Public Image of Chemistry must be strengthened. We must expand initiatives that promote visibility and funding of chemical sciences, emphasizing the connection of basic and applied research to commercial developments that improve our quality of life. We must work for positive change at national and local levels, seeking additional impact with Congress and other governmental bodies. We need your support and participation. Recent National Competitiveness and Innovation initiatives, supported by the ACS Office of Legislative & Governmental Affairs and the ACS Legislative Action Network, provide examples for further emulation.

Stability of Society Finances is essential to our future success. We are carefully managing expenses and seeking savings to ensure resources for key initiatives. The Budget & Finance Committee will monitor new program funding requests to recommend investments with strong benefit to ACS members. The program review process, beginning in 2006, will allow us to assess the value and impact of Society programs, to ensure that resources are wisely used to further the ACS mission and vision.

Chemical Abstracts Service and ACS Publications-our revenue engines-operate very efficiently in highly competitive market conditions. However, Society programs are overly dependent on their financial contributions. ACS has initiated identification of growth opportunities to diversify our revenue portfolio, and we must encourage new initiatives to preserve our future financial strength while maintaining our focus on a balanced budget.

Communication is the enabling force for the Society. Our revenues, services, and membership activities all revolve around information exchange and shared experiences. We must expand communication to reach all our constituents. Our strategic focus on the Internet for communication is vital and complementary to our International outreach. The Web Presence Initiative offers exciting enhancements to our already successful chemistry.org website.

TOGETHER WE BUILD THE FUTURE

My experiences−as a chemist, in technical/business management, and as a participant in ACS at local, divisional, and national levels−provide a basis for my contributions and allow me to represent your interests as we work together to build the future of ACS. I offer my commitment to serve and strengthen our Society and would be honored to receive your continued support for the position of District V Director.

For Director-at Large

Breazeale's statement

The American Chemical Society is a multifaceted organization with a membership of wide and varied interests. The facets range from the dissemination of knowledge in the publications and meetings of the Society, to individual member service to the profession, to the member benefit programs, and to public outreach activities such as National Chemistry Week. These activities take place in the branches of the Society: local sections, divisions, national and regional meetings, committees, and other groups as needed.

At times, it is amazing to me that my membership in the American Chemical Society began in 1965, 41 years ago. My first employment was as an assistant professor at Winthrop College in Rock Hill, S.C. My chair at Winthrop encouraged me to join the Society, which I did immediately. With many students in tow, I along with other faculty attended many local section and regional meetings.

Upon joining the faculty at Francis Marion College in 1970, my local section became the South Carolina Section, the section in which I am still a member. As professor and department chair, I had an obligation to the chemistry majors to promote our (and their) professional society. Students were encouraged to attend local section and regional meetings. There are many pleasant memories of full college vans heading to meetings. The students, through their interaction with students from other colleges and universities, supported the formation of a student affiliate chapter at Francis Marion. Through chapter activities, the students began their participation in the Society.

As members of the American Chemical Society, we are proud of our chosen profession and our professional society. We each serve the Society in our own way based on our interests and talents. Although I currently hold membership in two divisions, my principal interests have been in local section and membership activities, chemical safety, and public outreach. My service at the national level has included associate memberships on the Committee on the Economic Status of Chemists and Committee on Constitution & Bylaws. When offered the opportunity, I accepted membership on the Committee on Chemical Safety. During the last three years of my nine-year tenure, I served as chair of the Chemical Safety Committee.

Overlapping slightly with chemical safety was my tenure on the National Chemistry Week Task Force. Membership on the task force has been one of my most pleasurable activities in the Society. While on the task force, I witnessed the transition of the group from being reactive to staff plans to being proactive. The members became directly involved in developing the National Chemistry Week themes and activities. During my three years as chair of the task force, the transition was made from a task force to that of the Other Board Committee on Community Activities.

Appointment to the Board of Trustees of the ACS Member Insurance Programs offered me the opportunity to make major contributions to that Society activity for members. I have also served as chair of the Division of Chemical Health & Safety, during which time the Journal of Chemical Health & Safety was started. Currently, I am serving my second term on the Committee on Committees. These activities have been discussed to emphasize my dedication to service to our Society and to the profession of chemistry.

There are many items and concerns to be addressed by the board in the future. The budgets of the Society are always a concern. Questions such as what will be the sources of income in future years and what will be the expenses are always present. Of particular interest to me is the continuation of the outreach programs of the Society such as National Chemistry Week and Earth Day. Also high on my list of interests is new and continued support for Society programs for teachers at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. This educational interest includes important student programs such as Project SEED. Programs that are non-self-sustaining must support the mission and vision of the Society. The work of the Task Force on Program Review and the establishment of the Program Review Advisory Group will aid the Society in these decisions.

It is my desire to continue to be of service to our Society. If I am elected to the board of directors, I promise to be diligent in my efforts. Issues will be approached with an open mind and my decisions made in the best interests of the Society and its membership. Thank you for considering my candidacy for the ACS Board of Directors.

Chamot's statement

WE FACE CONTINUING CHALLENGES. The world is changing, and ACS faces both external and internal challenges. With regard to internal matters, I never forget that the primary goal is not growth for growth's sake but rather to serve the needs and interests of the members. ACS is a large and complex organization, with close to 160,000 members, an annual budget in excess of $400 million, approximately 2,000 employees, and more than 200 local sections and divisions, producing world-class journals and information services, organizing scientific meetings involving many thousands of participants, and providing a wide range of additional products and services. The board of directors has ultimate responsibility for maintaining the financial health and viability of the organization, and I have worked hard on the board to support running the affairs of the Society in a businesslike manner but always with emphasis on ACS being a membership organization with some successful businesses, not the other way around.

We also face external challenges. For example, the globalization of both R&D and chemical manufacturing has created both opportunities and problems. I chair a task force that is following up on recent activities by the Committee on Economic & Professional Affairs in examining globalization developments. I have been actively involved with this issue for many years (for example, see my C&EN Comment, Jan. 26, 2004, page 51), and I continue to seek ways for ACS to help chemists who experience the downside of this accelerating development. We must do more not only to help individuals, but as companies continue to invest in new facilities in other countries, ACS also needs to encourage corporate executives to invest more in innovation activities in the U.S. Not only do we need to help our current members, we also need to ask ourselves how we can expect to attract the best and brightest students into chemistry if they perceive, rightly or wrongly, that their future as chemical professionals in the U.S. is insecure.

WHAT I HAVE DONE. While on the Board, I led the effort to reorganize the Compensation Committee (which deals with senior executive salaries and bonus plan); I was an active participant in the task force that led to the current governance review of ACS programs (the PRAG committee) and worked to ensure that priorities were established with major input by representatives of the membership, including the council; I was an early voice calling for broad contingency planning, to prepare rationally for those times when the economy suffers downturns; and I have been vigilant in protecting the prerogatives of the board and council in governing the affairs of the Society.

WHAT I WILL DO. There are a variety of groups looking toward the future and how to change what we do and how we operate to adjust to changing demographics and a changing chemical workplace. These activities will probably result in recommendations for constitution and bylaw changes. Some suggestions may be worthwhile, but not everything (in fact, very little) requires amending the governance documents of the Society. Some ideas that have been floated include reorganizing (or downsizing) the council; elimination of some committees; creating a layer of regional councils (which would both result in a smaller national council and sever the direct link between local sections and the national council); and changing petition candidacy requirements to make it harder to be nominated. I have strong reservations about all of these, and I will not hesitate to speak out if and when they are presented for debate.

TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. I had been an active member of the council for more than 25 years before my election to the board. Three years ago, I was elected to my first full term as a board director, following an abbreviated first term that resulted from a special election. I have been open, approachable, and candid, and I have communicated regularly with the members of the council.

We have a large, vibrant, successful Society, heavily dependent upon the activities of many volunteers in the local sections, the national divisions, and the council. I am once again seeking reelection to the board of ACS because I want to continue to have an opportunity to focus on the needs of the membership of the Society while using my experience and skills to help take care of the "business" of the organization. I would be honored to have your vote for one more term.

Dorhout's statement

As recognized by the members and delineated on the ACS website: The Society bases its 2004-06 Strategic Plan on three core strategies:

• Providing timely, state-of-the-art chemical information.
• Serving as the premier professional organization for practitioners of chemistry.
• Enhancing public appreciation of the chemical sciences and technologies.
• Using these strategies, the Society will pursue three areas of development to lead and support the chemical enterprise into the future:
• Transforming the definition of chemistry to encompass its true multidisciplinary nature.
• Creating a dynamic, integrated portfolio of products and services.
• Promoting inclusiveness throughout the chemical enterprise.

We are approaching a transition in the Society as we move through this three-year strategic plan and emerge into another. It is impossible to predict precisely how successful we will be in the next plan; however, we can state with some certainty that we are still challenged by the goals put forward in 2004. As a member of the ACS leadership during this plan implementation, it has been my pleasure to have participated in advancing the Society; yet, it has been my frustration to not have fulfilled all our goals−I bear some responsibility for its successes and its shortcomings. I seek your confident vote to move us forward.

"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others."−Mahatma Gandhi

It has been my honor and privilege to serve the Society since 1995, when I became an associate on the Younger Chemists Committee. Professional growth and leadership development provided by ACS built upon my personal foundation of leadership through service and training at the local section and division level. My national service includes division, committee, and board task force activities and leadership. These experiences provided the level of leadership that has compelled me into leading on two science-focused organizations' boards of directors. That professional growth and leadership development drives me to serve and lead the Society that recognized the potential within me. I found myself in the service of ACS.

The American Chemical Society is a Society of volunteer professionals mentored and supported by professional staff. Each person is valuable to the organization, providing a diversity of thought, a diversity of challenges, and a diversity of action. Our perspectives on moving the Society forward are often a nonlinear combination of external influences, professional and personal experiences, and talents. It is the very diversity of chemistry that requires diversity of membership and leadership to be truly successful. Moving forward with the next phase of the ACS Strategic Plan will require a diversity of leadership perspectives to chart the course and to rally the members.

Gandhi led people by following where his people wanted to go-he was the change that he wanted to see in others. Chemistry and chemical professionals are "going" global. There is a set of diverse global problems facing us, and chemists everywhere are stepping up to the challenge. Whether those are problems with infectious diseases, energy, or food, international teams of chemists, biologists, food scientists, behaviorists, and engineers are joining forces-a diversity of thought-to solve them. Diversity of thought leads directly to innovation, and chemists are traveling around the globe to innovate. ACS needs to continue to serve the global community by leading the Society where that community wants to go and to thoughtfully change the way we lead others to change.

My professional scientific and educational experiences provide a global perspective on challenges for ACS. Whether it has been working with former nuclear weapons scientists in Russia as part of a nuclear nonproliferation program, developing graduate student research exchanges and joint degree programs in China, or working with a team of materials scientists to help create the bylaws for the African Materials Research Society, I have been a catalyst for change in international science and education.

You may select a board member with a local section perspective to support your needs in the local sections. You may select a board member with a division perspective to support your needs in the division. As you consider the esteemed candidates for the board seats, know that I have had the distinct pleasure and honor to work with many of them-all of them are excellent members and leaders, and I would gladly work with any of them again. As your prospective board member, I maintain a diversity of experiences and perspectives that provide balance to the leadership of your Society.

Jones's statement

RE-CREATING ACS. The world's premier and largest professional scientific society needs to remake itself. As we start our 131st year, we face challenges that demand our attention. With the commitment of our volunteer members and governance, coupled with the talents of our dedicated professional staff, we can make the changes that guarantee the Society's future success and prosperity.

MEMBERS. ACS is a membership organization. Enhanced efforts to enfranchise our members are called for. For-profit industries employ nearly two-thirds of ACS members. Many of these members face the effects of corporate downsizing, outsourcing, and acquisitions. The Career Services Department, through Chemjobs, the National and Regional Employment Services, and various career-training programs, has an impressive catalog of services for our members. I am committed to the new Leadership Development Program that will provide additional career tools, including skill assessment and enhancement and networking techniques. We must provide the services and advocacies that our members currently need, or they will go elsewhere.

DIVERSITY. Any issue of C&EN reveals the multidisciplinary nature and the ethnic diversity of the individuals involved in the chemical sciences. Many of these individuals find their professional home in other societies. Serious consideration is due to the Multidisciplinarty Task Force's suggestions for simplification of membership requirements and interdivisional horizontal programming. In a patchwork fashion, membership categories have been adjusted over the years so that we now have 11 different categories of membership and dues. Simplification of membership requirements could make us more welcoming to all individuals interested in the science of chemistry. I propose a council task force to develop a simplified system. We must also increase the involvement of underrepresented minorities in Society activities and governance and provide assistance in their professional advancement.

EDUCATION. ACS should intensify its efforts at involving teachers in Society and local section activities. The future of our profession and our country depends on improving education. Ultimately, improved public understanding of science in general and chemistry in particular depends on the quality of K-12 science education. We should add programs and provide incentives for science teachers at the precollege level to increase their participation in Society activities. We can leverage these efforts by better interaction and cooperation with other organizations of science teachers.

Our educational responsibilities include improving the public image of chemistry and the scientific understanding of our elected representatives. Through National Chemistry Week, WonderScience, Kids & Chemistry, our Office of Communications, and the efforts of our local sections, we have made a good start in informing the public of the significance of chemistry in their lives. We can enhance education of elected officials by increasing participation in the Legislative Action Network. We must augment the efforts of our Communications Office in this aspect of education.

INFORMATION. Many of our members join the Society for its excellent information resources. Our premier publications and CAS are fundamental tools for any scientist. Opportunities for networking and information exchange are available to our members who can attend national and regional meetings. However, the size and high cost of attending national meetings make participation by most members daunting and unaffordable. We need to contain the expense and size of these meetings by concentrating on enhanced and more focused special and regional meetings.

GOVERNANCE. If we are to prosper, we must enable the Society to respond to change. Like membership and dues categories, governance bureaucracy has evolved over 130 years. We went from a simple group of officers to a council of nearly 500 members, more than 40 committees, and innumerable task forces and groups in an effort to be more representative. But is it? How many of your members voted in the last election? How many offices were uncontested? An amendment to our complex governing documents takes nearly a year. Serious consideration must be given to the suggestions of the Governance Review Task Force including separating governance activities from technical programs and using alternate councilors. A major simplification of our governing documents allowing more actions by council resolution would streamline governance.

TRANSFORMATION. It's time for a change. The need for this metamorphosis is even more critical today. With my past experience on the board of directors, ACS governance committees and task forces; in leadership of Alpha Chi Sigma, the professional chemistry fraternity; and in industrial and academic research and education, I can help facilitate that transformation. I hope you will allow me to provide this service to our members by favoring me with your vote. Please share your ideas and concerns with me (pjones@unt.edu).

Kuck's statement

I am proud of the many contributions that chemists have made to improve the quality of life and the wide range of programs that the American Chemical Society has developed to meet members' needs. As a director, I will work with my colleagues on the board, in council, and throughout the Society to improve the effectiveness of those programs, to increase support for chemical educators, to communicate better with the general public and lawmakers, and to broaden the spectrum of chemical workers involved in Society activities.

Career Services. As a career consultant, workshop presenter, and a local section career coordinator, I have firsthand experience with providing career services to ACS members. I developed for my local section a workshop to help members prepare résumés, conduct job searches, and effectively handle interviews. A vast majority of the workshop participants obtained employment, and I am pleased that the workshop format has been adopted by other local sections. If elected to the board, I will support efforts to develop additional workshops and activities that address career management at all levels, from graduate students to postdocs to seasoned chemical workers.

Education. The Society should increase its support for K-12 teachers who need to have quick access to better ways of presenting scientific concepts and ideas for hands-on activities and demos. Young students need to learn that chemistry plays a vital role in everyday life and that chemists have made numerous contributions to improving the quality of life. I will work to support teachers in their crucial task of educating the next generation of scientists.

Education efforts need to extend to the university level as well. I find it disturbing that only 4% of the students enrolled in introductory chemistry classes later choose to major in it, according to the Chemical Education Division's "Report: 2005 Highlights." The Society can inform students of the value of receiving chemistry training, since a molecular-level understanding is essential to solving many of the complex problems facing the world today.

With the projected increase in the retirement of faculty members over the next decade, the Society needs to increase assistance to college and university search committees in identifying qualified candidates. Future faculties, especially those at research institutions, must better reflect the diverse composition of the student body. Since retiring from Bell Labs, I have done considerable research on graduate training and the hiring of scientists, and I have had numerous discussions on these issues with chemistry and chemical engineering faculty members, graduate students, and postdocs, which makes me well-equipped to help the Society in this very important effort.

Outreach. Members of the general public need to recognize the accomplishments of chemists and the strategic role that chemistry plays in areas such as biology, materials science, and environmental science. Misinformation and a lack of information about chemistry and other scientific issues permeate the popular press. The Society's members can become a resource for accurate information. I will work to have objective presentations given at all levels of the Society that will allow our members to become better spokespersons. Those seminars could address topics such as global warning, the impact of chemicals on the nation's food supply, and the threat of terrorism to the chemical industry. Through increased member efforts, legislators will better understand the science behind many of today's issues and recognize the importance of supporting science education and of funding basic research.

Involvement. Greater numbers of younger scientists and industrial chemists need to be involved in Society activities. I was one of the creators of Sci-Mix, a popular event at every national meeting. With it, we succeeded in finding a venue for younger attendees and new members to meet, network, and discuss science. While I was chair of the Committees on Committees and the Committee on Nominations & Elections, we successfully increased the number of younger members and industrial chemists who were considered for committee appointments and elected positions. Further efforts to attract, involve, and retain a diverse group of individuals should be made at the local section, regional, and national levels of the Society.

Why Valerie Kuck? I have chaired my local section and seven national committees; served on many national, regional, and local section committees; and have a solid record of achievement and innovation. Serving on the board of directors would be an honor. ACS needs to better serve its members and to educate the general public and legislators of the crucial role chemistry is playing in solving many of the world's problems.

Phillips' statement

My vision is for a more dynamic, global American Chemical Society. I foresee an organization that is even stronger through its effective governance and that addresses the needs of the global membership. ACS must also embrace interdisciplinary programming in its effort to move forward as a global organization. A successful corporate career has provided me with a unique combination of scientific insight, executive contacts, global exposure, marketing experience and powerful organizational skills. The positions that I have held at Dow Chemical Co. and Waters Corp. have given me the business and technical insight required to address goals for both academic and industrial scientists. My background from industry and 12 years of ACS leadership positions have prepared me to serve on the Board of Directors as a director at-large.

The areas where I would concentrate, if elected, are currently being addressed by the ACS Board of Directors. The board and the Council Policy Committee (CPC) jointly appointed a Governance Review Task Force. The work of the task force resulted in recommendations for rethinking the "function" of a set of five key elements of the Society's governance, which are: membership, geographical organization, disciplinary organization, governance structure, and governance operations. As a director-at-large, I would work with the board and CPC as they take action on these suggestions.

GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE AND OPERATION. I became astutely aware of governance structure and operation as a member of the ACS Council Committee on Committees (ConC) for the past six years. My focus on ConC has been on increasing the involvement of industry chemists in the governance of the Society. My input as a member of the board would lead to strategies to increase the involvement of industrial members. Both academic and industrial scientists are concerned with the conflict of governance-related activities with the scientific program at national meetings. I would work with the board to resolve th