For District I director: Matthew Grandbois

Central Massachusetts Section. AirJoule, Newark, Deleware.

Academic record: Augustana College, BA, (ACS Approved) 2004; University of Minnesota, PhD, 2010; Harvard Business School Program for Leadership Development (PLD), 2019.

Honors: Dow Chemical CEO International Exchange, 2015; ACS Younger Chemist Committee Leadership Development Award, 2014; Transition in Action Award Nominee for Innovation (The Dow Chemical Company), 2012; Outstanding Teaching Assistant (University of Minnesota IT Student Board), 2008; United States Fulbright Scholar to Norway, 2008; Outstanding Chemistry Teaching Assistant (Augustana College), 2004; Covenant Award for Liberal Arts (Augustana College), 2002.

Professional positions (for the past 10 years): AirJoule, Vice President of Business Development, 2024–present; DuPont, Strategic Partnership Manager, 2020–24; Lead Market Manager, 2019–20; The Dow Chemical Company: Strategic Market Manager, 2016–19; Corporate Account Market Manager, 2015–16; Associate Research Scientist, 2012–15.

Service in ACS national offices: Committee on Committees Steering Committee on Committee Redesign, 2022–23; Industry Members Advisory Board, 2023; Committee on Council Policy, Member, 2022–present; Advisory Board, InChemistry, 2023–present; Committee on Professional Training, Associate, 2020–21; Committee on Council Policy Working Group on Future Council Representation, 2018–21; Professional and Leadership Development Portfolio Board of Directors Working Group, 2020–21, Co-Chair of Managing Self Working Group, 2020–21; Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Board, 2019; Committee on Younger Chemists, Member, 2017–19, Chair, 2019, Secretary, 2018, Associate, 2015–16; Society of Chemical Education Undergraduate Task Force, Undergraduate Liaison, 2002.

Service in ACS offices: Northeastern Region: Meeting Co-Chair, 2023. Central Massachusetts Section: Chair, 2022–23; Northeastern Regional Board Representative, 2023–present; Chair-Elect, 2021; Member-At-Large, 2019–20. Midland Section: Chair-Elect, 2015; Secretary, 2014. Professional Relations Division: Awards Committee, 2022–present; Councilor, 2021–present, Member-At-Large, 2018–20; Communications Task Force Chair, 2020; Younger Chemists Sub-Division Chair, 2016–18. Business Development & Management Division: Programming Chair, 2021–present; I4C Program Chair, 2021–present; Awards Committee, 2022–present; Chair, 2021; Chair–Elect, 2020; Communications Chair, 2019.

Member: Member of ACS since 2012. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, US National Committee, 2023–25. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; American Association for the Advancement of Science. ACS Divisions: Business Development and Management, Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, Professional Relations.

Related activities: ACS Leadership Development System Facilitator: Fostering Innovation, Leading without Authority ACS Career Kick-starter Workshop Facilitator. DuPont: Black Employees Network Communication Chair, 2022–24; Generating Research Opportunities for Women (GROW) Steering Committee, 2020–22. DOW Chemical: Young Researchers Committee, Chair 2012, Member 2010–13. Featured speaker on 10 ACS Webinars and moderator for 2 others since 2017 focusing on topics of professional development. Chaired and organized +25 symposia at ACS National Meetings and 2 Regional ACS Meetings since 2016. Six Sigma Black Belt. License Certified Professional on Portfolio Management from Oliver Wight. Holds 14 granted patents for electronic materials and agriculture chemicals manufacturing and published 10 journal articles in semiconductor materials, environmental chemistry, and organic chemical synthesis.

Grandbois’s statement

It is an honor to be a candidate for District 1 director for the American Chemical Society. I owe so much to the ACS as it has been my professional home over the past 20 years, so it is my pleasure to share my vision for how we can continue to make it a home for all chemists today and into the future.

The ACS has changed over the past 150 years as the landscape of chemistry has undergone a remarkable transformation. Chemists are no longer defined solely by their ability to work in a chemistry lab, but in the way they manifest their passion for the chemical sciences to make a difference in the world. Chemists are everywhere, and it is my mission to recognize their achievements, support them to reach their goals, and advocate for equitable representation across all aspects of the ACS. Antiquated methods of segmenting chemists into easy-to-measure groups have hindered our ability to support and communicate with them. We need to rethink how we are measuring impact and the way we are engaging chemists so that they once again understand that the ACS views them as an integral member of a community, and not just a targeted customer. This is a cause I have continued to work towards over the past 20 years and am committed to champion this effort if elected to the ACS Board of Directors.As an active volunteer leader, I have worked across our chemical community to support chemists where they are in their lives today, while trying to support others to realize their ambitions and dreams. While chair of the ACS Division of Business Development & Management, I created awards to celebrate the achievements of chemists who have taken their careers beyond the bench and into the business of chemistry, and I established programs to support students from underrepresented communities that wish to pursue similar career paths. As an active volunteer-member of the ACS Division of Professional Relations, I have created programs that have brought together industrial companies from all sectors to showcase burgeoning talent from underrepresented communities and help these same students understand how industry is building a more diverse and inclusive pipeline of chemical scientists. While chair of the Central Massachusetts Local Section, I have worked with local volunteers to create student travel awards and partnered with neighboring local sections as a co-chair of the 2023 Northeastern Regional Meeting to create a forum where chemists from around the region could disseminate their scientific discoveries, connect with their regional colleagues, and celebrate the achievements of outstanding chemists in the Northeastern Region of the ACS.

The ACS has an opportunity to strengthen its position as the world’s leading scientific society by helping chemists understand that membership and engagement are the differentiators needed to change the world for the better. We have an already solid foundation of successful programs, but we can resource, improve, and coordinate these to better serve and grow our membership and volunteer community. As a former member of the ACS Committee on Professional Training, I am proud of the work that we did to develop and maintain the standards for undergraduate chemistry education and its impact on the careers and lives of students, like me, who receive an ACS Approved degree.

In a similar way, as a student of the ACS Leadership Development System (LDS), I have used the training I received as an ACS volunteer leader to grow my career from its beginnings as a laboratory chemist within one of the world’s largest chemical companies to now being an executive, leading the commercial operations of a small chemical company. Because it gave so much to me, I became even more involved as an ACS LDS facilitator and have continued to work with numerous volunteers and staff to improve the portfolio of LDS courses to help others expand their professional capabilities to change the world around them. These are just a few of the outstanding programs and offerings already in place that, if elected to the ACS Board, I would work to further build up, complement, and promote to empower our fellow chemists to achieve their goals and pursue their science.

ACS programs, products, and services are a connected foundation on which we can grow our professional society to where all chemists feel valued, respected, and included. I have benefited from all of these items throughout my career, and it is my mission to expand and improve this portfolio for all of my fellow ACS members. This is what I am passionate about and why I am excited to devote my energy towards this vision for the future as a member of the ACS Board of Directors. You can learn more about me and my candidacy at matthew .grandbois.phd and I encourage you to contact me through this site to share your thoughts, concerns, and ideas on how we can work together to continue to make the ACS our home. Thank you for your support.