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ACS in San Diego

by Rudy M. Baum
March 21, 2005 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 83, Issue 12

AM FUN
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Credit: PHOTO BY RUDY BAUM
YCC-sponsored event drew more than 200 runners
Credit: PHOTO BY RUDY BAUM
YCC-sponsored event drew more than 200 runners

The 229th ACS National Meeting was held last week in San Diego. More than 15,000 chemists and friends of chemistry assembled for five days of technical sessions, social events, governance functions, and the exposition. It was one of the largest ACS meetings ever (see page 9).

In my 29 years on the ACS staff, I have attended more than 40 national meetings, and every one of them has been a rewarding experience. My appreciation for all that national meetings offer has grown over the years. The technical sessions, of course, are the heart of every national meeting. In San Diego, more than 9,200 papers were delivered at 933 technical sessions. Forty-one ACS technical divisions, secretariats, and committees organized and sponsored these symposia. This effort is a remarkable labor of love carried out by a legion of volunteers.

The technical program in San Diego covered the entire landscape of chemical science and technology. The traditional subdisciplines of chemistry--analytical, inorganic, organic, and physical--were represented, of course, as were a plethora of other subdisciplines within the broad umbrella of the chemical sciences. Also represented were divisions that focus on other important activities within the chemical enterprise: Chemical Education, Chemical Health & Safety, Chemical Information, Chemistry & the Law, the History of Chemistry, and Professional Relations, to name several.

"It is a pivotal moment in the history of ACS," says Denise L. Creech, director of the Membership Division. "The vision for the scientific and professional member divisions is one that is flexible and responsive to the emerging and multidisciplinary science our members practice. The divisions have embraced a future with greater emphasis on thematic, multidisciplinary, and socially relevant approaches to programming and other activities that resonate with our members, enhance cooperation among the divisions, and lower collaborative barriers. This approach will help build bridges across ACS divisions and between chemistry and disciplines such as biology, engineering, and materials research."

As Creech points out, scientific topics covered in technical sessions often cut across the divisions in this increasingly multidisciplinary world of scientific research. For example, 11 technical divisions combined their efforts in San Diego to produce more than 80 sessions that examined nanoscale science and technology from a broad and varied perspective. From the environment to sensors, from polymer surfaces to biological materials, meeting attendees could learn about this rich new lode of chemical research.

"The development of themes like nanoscience and biotechnology is just a first step to better serve all scientists who focus on a subject that doesn't fit neatly within a single ACS division, or even within a single science," Creech says. "When a division produces information that holds value that extends beyond its membership, we must find ways for these other audiences to consume that information. In this way, we enhance the viability of our divisions, and by extension, the society itself."

Of course, there are lots of other activities at ACS meetings, many of them just plain fun. For example, the Younger Chemists Committee sponsored the fourth annual Fun Run at 6:30 AM on Monday. C&EN hosted a talk on the chemistry of ingredients of Hispanic foods and offered traditional Hispanic finger food at its booth.

Some people think that ACS national meetings have grown too large. They are, indeed, large, but their very size ensures a rich technical program and appealing social events. Stories in this week's News of the Week section and in the Science & Technology department in the next three issues will give you a sense of the exciting research that was described in papers given at the meeting. The next three national meetings are in Washington, D.C.; Atlanta; and San Francisco. Try to fit at least one of them into your schedule.

Thanks for reading.

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