Recognizing Entrepreneurs

A new American Chemical Society national award, the Kathryn C. Hach Award for Entrepreneurial Success, aims to recognize outstanding entrepreneurs who have created a commercially viable business within the chemical enterprise.

The award is funded by Kathryn C. Hach-Darrow, who cofounded a multi-million-dollar water-analysis company with her late husband, Clifford Hach.

The idea for the award stems from a recommendation in the 2011 report, “Innovation, Chemistry, and Jobs,” prepared by the ACS Presidential Task Force on Innovation in the Chemical Enterprise.

“This new award will bring attention to, and celebrate the accomplishments of, those who take the plunge and go into entrepreneurial work,” says Harvard University chemistry professor George M. Whitesides, who chaired the task force.

“By recognizing groundbreaking and innovative new industries started by entrepreneurs, the Kathryn C. Hach Award for Entrepreneurial Success rewards and validates the value of entrepreneurship in the chemical enterprise,” says ACS Past-President Joseph S. Francisco, who created the task force. “I am excited about the broad recognition and public attention that this award will bring to entrepreneurs.”

The award includes a certificate and a $5,000 cash prize. The winner will also receive up to $2,500 for travel expenses to the spring 2014 ACS national meeting in Dallas, where the first award will be presented.

“The ACS award program was established in 1922 with the Priestley Medal, and we’ve never had a national award targeted for entrepreneurs,” says Martha Lester, director of professional advancement at ACS. This award “shows where we think the discipline is going and fills a hole that needed to be filled.”

“We hope that this award will show that ACS also values the role of the entrepreneur in the chemistry enterprise, and by meaningfully noting this and recognizing it, it will actually foster entrepreneurship in the chemistry enterprise,” says Madeleine Jacobs, executive director and chief executive officer of ACS.

Nominations for the award are due on Nov 1. Nominees must be ACS members and can be individuals or teams of up to three people. For more information, visit www.acs.org/awards. Click on “National Awards,” then click on “2014 National Awards.”