'The Many Faces of Chemistry'

The first National Chemistry Day, which was held in 1987, was an ambitious project of 1986 ACS President George C. Pimentel.

"National Chemistry Day is a bold and exciting undertaking for us," he said at the time. "Its success will be measured, in the short term, by the number of people reached by our efforts. Over the long term, we will measure our success by the continued use of chemistry to solve societal problems and to improve the quality of life for us all."

By 1989, many ACS local sections were observing a full week of celebration rather than a single day, although holding National Chemistry Week (NCW) as an annual event did not become an official ACS program until 1993.

Over the years, various themes have been celebrated, including "Cooking with Chemistry," "Chemistry & Art," "Health & Wellness," and "The Joy of Toys," to name a few. The 2007 theme is "The Many Faces of Chemistry." This theme celebrates both the diversity of settings in which chemists practice as well as the diversity of chemists themselves.

Almost all 190 ACS local sections observe National Chemistry Week, which is being held this week. Each year's celebration includes a unifying event that aims to tie together programming in different locations around the country. This year's unifying event is chemistry career fairs. Some local sections are conducting career fairs at which chemists describe the work that they do and try to interest young people in studying chemistry and even in becoming chemists themselves.

Activities that have become synonymous with NCW are also being held. Many local sections are conducting hands-on experiments in elementary school classrooms, while others have arranged for demonstrations and chemistry shows in various venues such as malls, museums, and parks. Other local sections are setting up displays in libraries, distributing reading lists, coordinating youth patch programs, and in numerous other creative ways delivering the message that chemistry is fun, that chemistry is everywhere, and that chemists are ordinary people.

The success of National Chemistry Week, decade after decade, depends on the time, efforts, and enthusiasm contributed by a host of volunteers. They include local section members, ACS student affiliates, teachers, and those special ACS volunteers who are community outreach coordinators.

Community outreach coordinators spearhead the celebration of NCW by working with the national ACS offices, recruiting other ACS volunteers at the local level, securing locations to conduct the events, and handling a plethora of logistical details. During this special anniversary year, the Committee on Community Activities acknowledges and thanks those community coordinators who have been volunteering for five, 10, and even 20 years to make the annual celebrations such a success.

In recognition of Pimentel's legacy in establishing National Chemistry Week, a reception was held at the Boston ACS national meeting on Aug. 19 at which his widow, Jeanne, spoke. Another event in Boston was an all-day symposium organized by the Committee on Community Activities and cosponsored by the Committees on Technician Affairs and Minority Affairs. The symposium highlighted the history of NCW and the spirit of volunteerism, and it offered tips on how to communicate chemical concepts in age-appropriate ways to elementary school students.

NCW provides every type of community in the U.S.—urban, rural, suburban; big, little, or medium-sized—an annual opportunity to present to the public the important work done by chemists and to motivate kids and teens to consider how chemists are improving people's lives through the transforming power of chemistry. During NCW 2007, be sure to visit www.chemistryweek.org to locate events, identify community coordinators, and obtain educational resources.