ACS Comes to Washington

The heat and humidity of summer are doing little to dampen the spirits of more than 11,000 chemical scientists in Washington, D.C., to participate in the 230th American Chemical Society national meeting. More than 7,400 technical papers and posters are scheduled to be presented, and more than 300 exhibitors are meeting prospective customers and colleagues at the new convention center.

There is something for everyone here, says ACS President William Carroll, who quipped, If youre bored at this meeting, you certainly must be dead.

Carroll is very much alive and busy. He is sponsoring numerous presidential sessions on topics ranging from The Business Case for Diversity to a discussion of globalization related to his yearlong project, Enterprise 2015. The latter session, held on Aug. 28, finished with a wide-ranging discussion with audience members giving their own predictions of the shape of the chemical sciences 10 years from now. Other presidential sessions to be held on Aug. 29 and 30 include a session on the future of chemical plant security and one on global environmental regulation of chemicals.

Also prominent at the meeting have been programs honoring contributors to the chemical enterprise. A luncheon on Sunday thanked financial supporters of the ACS Scholars Program. Celebrating its 10th anniversary at the meeting, the program has provided financial support to 1,600 African American, Hispanic, and Native American students who have shown promise in the chemical sciences. Of these students, 660 have graduated from college, 96 are in Ph.D. programs, and 22 have received doctoral degrees. At the luncheon, ACS Executive Director and CEO Madeleine Jacobs announced that PPG Industries Foundation has become the programs first $1 million donor.

A black-tie reception and banquet on Aug. 28 honored this years Heroes of Chemistry for contributions that have benefited humanity. Companies with honorees at this years banquet were Colgate-Palmolive, ExxonMobil, IBM, Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, and Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research.