Kirchhoff Is Named Director Of ACS Education Division

THE ACS BOARD of Directors named Mary M. Kirchhoff director of ACS's Education Division at its meeting in early December.

Kirchhoff had been acting director since Sylvia Ware retired in 2005. Kirchhoff was previously assistant director for special projects in the Education Division for 15 months and assistant director of the ACS Green Chemistry Institute for three years. At GCI, her work emphasized educational materials. She also helped start the Green Chemistry Summer School for graduate students and contributed to organizing the Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference, held annually in Washington, D.C.

Before coming to ACS, Kirchhoff spent nine years as an assistant and associate professor of chemistry at Trinity College in Washington, D.C., and worked at the Environmental Protection Agency for three years as an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) environmental fellow and visiting scientist.

Kirchhoff holds three degrees in chemistry: a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of New Hampshire; an M.S. from Duquesne University, Pittsburgh; and a B.A. from Russell Sage College, in Troy, N.Y. She says she went back for her doctorate because she wanted to teach at a small college; she completed the degree while raising a family with four children.

In 2006, Kirchhoff was also named a fellow by AAAS and received a Fulbright Senior Specialist Grant for educational work in Uruguay.

Kirchhoff says her goals as director include focusing on four areas. In addition to the ongoing work of the Education Division, she hopes to increase opportunities for faculty development in higher education institutions, address the needs of chemistry departments at two-year colleges, implement new programs for graduate students, and enhance international opportunities for undergraduates majoring in chemistry.