Candidates’ election statements and backgrounds

Two candidates will vie for the office of president-elect of the American Chemical Society for 2019 in this fall’s election. They are Luis A. Echegoyen, the Robert A. Welch Professor of Chemistry at the University of Texas, El Paso; and Thomas R. Gilbert, an associate chemistry and chemical biology professor at Northeastern University. The successful candidate will serve as ACS president in 2020 and as a member of the ACS Board of Directors from 2019 to 2021.

Candidates for director of District I are Katherine L. Lee, an associate research fellow at Pfizer, and Laura E. Pence, a chemistry professor at the University of Hartford.

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 Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Southeastern Pennsylvania Sections), and Vermont and those members with addresses in the states of New York and Pennsylvania who are not assigned to local sections. The winner will serve on the ACS Board of Directors beginning in 2019 and running through 2021.

District V will also be holding elections for director. Candidates are John E. Adams, Curators’ Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus at the University of Missouri, and Joseph A. Heppert, vice president for research at Texas Tech University.

District V consists of members assigned to or residing in local sections with headquarters in Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan (except the Detroit, Huron Valley, Michigan State University, Midland, and Western Michigan Sections), Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico (except the Rio Grande Valley Section), North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming and those members with addresses in Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan (except Dickinson County), Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin who are not assigned to local sections. The winner will serve on the ACS Board of Directors beginning in 2019 and running through 2021.

Four candidates are running for two director-at-large positions. They are Frank D. Blum, the Harrison I. Bartlett Chair and Regents’ Professor of Chemistry at Oklahoma State University; Lee H. Latimer, a consultant in drug development at LHLatimer Consulting; Ingrid Montes, assistant dean of graduate studies and research at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras, College of Natural Sciences; and Angela W. Peters, vice provost for academic programs at Claflin University. The two candidates receiving the highest number of votes will serve a three-year term from 2019 to 2021.

Balloting will be conducted online, with the option to receive a paper ballot upon request. Ballots will be distributed Oct. 1–3 with a voting deadline of Oct. 31. ACS members eligible to vote received information in early September on how to request a paper ballot.

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

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.