Candidates' Election Statements And Backgrounds

Two candidates will vie for the office of president-elect of the American Chemical Society for 2011 in this fall’s election. They are Luis A. Echegoyen , the Robert A. Welch Chair in Chemistry at the University of Texas, El Paso, and Bassam Z. Shakhashiri, a professor of chemistry at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. The successful candidate will serve as ACS president in 2012 and as a member of the ACS Board of Directors from 2011 to 2013.

Candidates for director of District II are George M. Bodner, the Arthur E. Kelly Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, Education & Engineering at Purdue University, and Joseph R. Peterson , a professor emeritus at the University of Tennessee and retired senior R&D staff member at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

District II consists of members assigned to or residing in local sections with headquarters in Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland (except the Maryland Section), Michigan (except the Upper Peninsula Section), Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania (except the Central Pennsylvania, Lehigh Valley, and Susquehanna Valley Sections); and those members with addresses in the states of Indiana (except the counties of Lake and Porter), Kentucky (except Massac County), Ohio, Michigan (except Dickinson County), Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia who are not assigned to local sections.

District IV will also be holding elections for director. Candidates are Larry K. Krannich , executive director of the Alabama Academy of Science and a professor emeritus at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, and Will E. Lynch , head of the chemistry department at Armstrong Atlantic State University, in Savannah, Ga.

District IV consists of members assigned to or residing in local sections with headquarters in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas (except Panhandle Plains, Permian Basin, South Plains, and Wichita Falls-Duncan Sections), and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; and those members with addresses in Georgia (except the counties of Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Walker, and Whitfield), Louisiana, North Carolina, and certain counties in Texas who are not assigned to local sections.

Candidates running for two director-at-large positions are Janan M. Hayes , a professor emeritus at Merced College, in Sacramento, Calif.; Robert L. Lichter , principal and cofounder of Merrimack Consultants, in Great Barrington, Mass.; Kathleen M. Schulz , president of Business Results Inc., in Albuquerque, N.M.; and Kent J. Voorhees , a professor of chemistry at Colorado School of Mines. The successful candidates for the two positions will serve three-year terms from 2011 to 2013.

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

All ballots will be mailed during the week of Sept. 24. The deadline for voting or return of marked ballots, which can be done online or by paper ballot, respectively, is close of business on Nov. 12.

The ACS Committee on Nominations & Elections did not provide candidates with specific questions to frame their statements. Information about ACS policies for elections 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 www.acs.org/elections.