Carol Duane wins ACS Award for Volunteer Service

For her passion and commitment to developing leaders within the American Chemical Society, Carol Duane has been named the winner of the 2018 Award for Volunteer Service to the American Chemical Society. Created in 2001, the award recognizes individuals who have contributed significantly to ACS’s goals and objectives.

Duane says she was “overwhelmed” when she learned she had been selected for the award. “I’ve gotten back so much from volunteering for ACS,” she says. “It gives me a sense of purpose, and I like to see other people being successful and want to help them give back to the society. When you’re investing in the society, you’re actually investing in yourself, too.”

“Carol’s commitment and dedication to the goals of the society are truly volunteerism at its highest level,” says Mamie Moy, who has served on numerous ACS committees with Duane. “It is Carol’s belief that chemists are natural leaders and she has worked as an ACS member and volunteer in a variety of capacities to share experience, expertise, and advice. She recognizes that it is essential that new ACS leaders are prepared to respond to the future with knowledge and skills that will allow them to lead both in the society and their workplaces.”

Duane, who is president of business development company D&D Consultants of Mentor, has been volunteering for ACS for more than 30 years. She has served as councilor of the Northeastern Ohio Section, chair and strategic planning coordinator for the Division of Business Development & Management, chair of the ACS Committee on Committees, and chair of the Division of Chemical Information.

More recently, she helped establish the ACS Leadership Development System (LDS). Duane is one of the initiators of the ACS Leadership Advisory Board and cochaired the Board Oversight Group on leadership development. “Over the last decade, many ACS members have benefited from the improved leadership skills gained through LDS courses, especially those who have had the privilege of attending the Extraordinary Leader course that Carol facilitates,” says Amber Hinkle, who has worked on the LDS with Duane. “Carol’s efforts have helped strengthen the foundation of leadership within the society.”

In addition, Duane helped develop the strategic planning retreat program, which has supported local sections, committees, and divisions in developing their own strategic plans.

“Her unbridled commitment to the society’s long-term health is predicated on building skills and creating leaders who are ready, willing, and able to step into leadership roles in their volunteer and professional lives with confidence and competence,” says Thomas Lane, who was ACS president when LDS launched in 2009. “She gives freely of her time, talents, and treasures truly making a difference in people’s lives.”

Duane earned an M.S. in chemistry from Ohio State University in 1964. She has served as director of marketing and business alliances at Ricerca, executive director of NeoBio Corp., and executive director of the Cleveland Engineering Society.

Duane says the relationships she’s developed within ACS have been invaluable. “I made the best and dearest lifelong friends that anyone could ever have,” she says. “Where else do you get the opportunity to meet and collaborate with so many wonderful people?”