Mamie Moy wins Award for Volunteer Service to the ACS

Mamie W. Moy is the recipient of the 2023 Award for Volunteer Service to the American Chemical Society. Created in 2001, the award recognizes individuals who exemplify the spirit of volunteerism and have contributed significantly to ACS’s goals and objectives.

Since 2013, Moy has held the post of professor emeritus in chemistry at the University of Houston, the institution she has called home for over 70 years. She is being honored for more than 40 years of volunteer service to the ACS, to education, and to humanity.

Moy joined ACS in 1967. In 1984, she served as chair of the Greater Houston local section. Moy has since served as a councilor for this local section for over 35 years. As part of this role, she served 24 years on ACS council committees and chaired the National Chemistry Week activities in Houston from 1994 through 2001. Recently, Moy moved into the role of alternate councilor. In 2019, the Greater Houston local section established a new award in her honor: the Mamie W. Moy Distinguished Service Award.

At the regional level, Moy helped co-ordinate the Southwest Regional Meetings (SWRM) in Houston in 1986 and 1996. She co-chaired the SWRM meeting in 2006 and the SWRM awards committee in 2016.

Moy has also served on numerous national committees including Membership Affairs, Nominations and Elections, Minority Affairs, Council Policy and Committee on Committees. She is currently an associate member on the Committee on Meetings and Expositions.

In 2010, Moy was recognized as an ACS fellow for her volunteer work. “Mamie’s volunteer contributions to the society at the national level and for her local section have been both extensive and significant,” says Carol Duane, who has served on numerous ACS national committees with Moy. “The establishment by the Greater Houston local section in 2019 of the Mamie W. Moy Distinguished Service Award says everything about her sustained and continuing volunteerism over her lifetime.”

“Mamie has done so much for so many people for so long that she is considered an institution in both Houston and in the ACS,” says Sunny C. Tang, a long-term member of the Greater Houston local section. “For her, all the multitude of honors and recognitions she received over the years are no match for seeing twinkles of aha moments in the eyes of children and young women. Those twinkles are the true rewards of her life’s work.”

Moy describes winning the Award for Volunteer Service to the ACS as “overwhelming”, adding that she gains much from her volunteer efforts including enjoyment, friendships, and leadership experience. “The time spent is great in many committees, but their benefits are even greater. We receive so much from the society and I give my heartfelt thanks to it for providing all of this experience,” Moy says.