Division News

Author: Jarrod Cohen, Ph.D. Chair-Elect, ACS Division of Professional Relations

This blog post highlights ways you can be involved with PROF at a National meeting, highlighting programming that is promised to be engaging. It also features ways to get involved and start or expand on building your ACS leadership. Finally, it describes how we recognize individuals for their contributions to the division and profession!

Being Being, Getting, and Recognizing Those Involved 

A warm hello to all of our members and a warm welcome to our newest members! Its hard to believe that national meeting if only one week away. As I write this, I want this to not just focus on highlighting all of our amazing programming but also tell you how to make the most of your meeting and get the most out of the Division of Professional Relations! 

BEING INVOLVED

PROF has some amazing programming coming up at the national meeting including talks focused on our amazing subdivisions like the newly named ACS PRIDE which will host its annual LGBTQ+ Graduate and Postdoctoral Scholar Symposium, or some of our key sessions around professional development like our All Roads Through Chemistry Session focusing on all the career paths you can take with your chemistry degree or our COMPASS mentorship session. In addition to these, we have some that combine everything that encompasses PROF’s mission and goals like our Underrepresented Minorities within the Chemical Industry: What Industry is Doing to Improve DEIR in Talent, Acquisition, & Retention. If you cannot make a traditional technical talk, PROF is also excited to participate and host different social events to promote networking, meeting people, and getting some free food and swag! You can find us at Sci-Mix, at our Meet & Greet with other PROF members, our open membership meeting, or even our URM Networking Session with some really amazing food and industry partners! We cannot wait to see you there!  

GETTING INVOLVED

As many of you can attest, the power of the Division of Professional Relations is in its diverse and active membership. With many current and past board members, committee members, and presidential succession, it is evident that PROF is the home for ALL chemists. With that being said, our division can only be as strong as its volunteers. We have an army of involved members, helping us provide content for our website, programming at national and regional meetings, networking, and engaging with all of you! As we move forward in 2023 with a new strategic plan, we are looking for new volunteers to help keep our momentum moving forward. To not only build our volunteer pool but also provide leadership opportunities for our members, I have listed ways to get involved within our division.

If you are interested in learning more about how you can get involved, I encourage you to email us at chair@acsprof.org.  

1.     Volunteer on one of our many divisional committees including the programming committee, membership engagement committee, awards committee, and communications committee. 

2.     Get involved with our subdivision leadership, helping as a subdivision program chair, or working with the current chair succession to define a role best fit for you!

3.     Help generate content for our website based on your career experiences through a blog post.  

RECONGNIZING THOSE INVOLVED

PROF has some amazing people that make up its membership. So many of our members have taken others under their wings and impacted many chemist’s lives in one way or another. In order to formally recognize some of these individuals who have gone above and beyond for the profession and PROF specifically, we are extremely honored to announce several award winners for the 2023 year. Firstly, we would like to recognize Carol Duane, the 2023 Recipient of the Henry Hill Award, for service to the profession in the area of professional relations in a unique and distinguished manner. We would also like to recognize Susan Schelble, 2023 recipient of the Lou Sacco award for service to the division. Both of these awardees epitomize the meaning of being a champion for professionalism and a dedicated member of PROF. We look forward to celebrating their achievements at the San Francisco Fall 2023 National Meeting.    

Involvement can be a scary thing and for those who are just starting to explore the value of your PROF or ACS membership may feel overwhelmed. I can assure you though on behalf of the entire executive committee and many of our members, we are here to help you navigate your professional career and lead you on a path for success. If you are unsure where to begin your involvement, join us at an event in Indianapolis or send us an email and we will connect you with someone who is willing to help! Thanks to all of you for being amazing division members and we hope to see you soon! 

Author: Jarrod Cohen, Ph.D. Chair-Elect, ACS Division of Professional Relations

This blog post highlights ways you can be involved with PROF at a National meeting, highlighting programming that is promised to be engaging. He also mentions ways to get involved and start or expand on building your ACS leadership. Lastly, he recognizes several individuals for their contributions to the division and profession! Check it out as soon as you can to make the most of your membership to PROF. 

Being Being, Getting, and Recognizing Those Involved 

A warm hello to all of our members and a warm welcome to our newest members! Its hard to believe that national meeting if only one week away. As I write this, I want this to not just focus on highlighting all of our amazing programming but also tell you how to make the most of your meeting and get the most out of the Division of Professional Relations! 

BEING INVOLVED

PROF has some amazing programming coming up at the national meeting including talks focused on our amazing subdivisions like the newly named ACS PRIDE which will host its annual LGBTQ+ Graduate and Postdoctoral Scholar Symposium, or some of our key sessions around professional development like our All Roads Through Chemistry Session focusing on all the career paths you can take with your chemistry degree or our COMPASS mentorship session. In addition to these, we have some that combine everything that encompasses PROF’s mission and goals like our Underrepresented Minorities within the Chemical Industry: What Industry is Doing to Improve DEIR in Talent, Acquisition, & Retention. If you cannot make a traditional technical talk, PROF is also excited to participate and host different social events to promote networking, meeting people, and getting some free food and swag! You can find us at Sci-Mix, at our Meet & Greet with other PROF members, our open membership meeting, or even our URM Networking Session with some really amazing food and industry partners! We cannot wait to see you there!  

GETTING INVOLVED

As many of you can attest, the power of the Division of Professional Relations is in its diverse and active membership. With many current and past board members, committee members, and presidential succession, it is evident that PROF is the home for ALL chemists. With that being said, our division can only be as strong as its volunteers. We have an army of involved members, helping us provide content for our website, programming at national and regional meetings, networking, and engaging with all of you! As we move forward in 2023 with a new strategic plan, we are looking for new volunteers to help keep our momentum moving forward. To not only build our volunteer pool but also provide leadership opportunities for our members, I have listed ways to get involved within our division.

If you are interested in learning more about how you can get involved, I encourage you to email us at chair@acsprof.org.  

1.     Volunteer on one of our many divisional committees including the programming committee, membership engagement committee, awards committee, and communications committee. 

2.     Get involved with our subdivision leadership, helping as a subdivision program chair, or working with the current chair succession to define a role best fit for you!

3.     Help generate content for our website based on your career experiences through a blog post.  

RECONGNIZING THOSE INVOLVED

PROF has some amazing people that make up its membership. So many of our members have taken others under their wings and impacted many chemist’s lives in one way or another. In order to formally recognize some of these individuals who have gone above and beyond for the profession and PROF specifically, we are extremely honored to announce several award winners for the 2023 year. Firstly, we would like to recognize Carol Duane, the 2023 Recipient of the Henry Hill Award, for service to the profession in the area of professional relations in a unique and distinguished manner. We would also like to recognize Susan Schelble, 2023 recipient of the Lou Sacco award for service to the division. Both of these awardees epitomize the meaning of being a champion for professionalism and a dedicated member of PROF. We look forward to celebrating their achievements at the San Francisco Fall 2023 National Meeting.    

Involvement can be a scary thing and for those who are just starting to explore the value of your PROF or ACS membership may feel overwhelmed. I can assure you though on behalf of the entire executive committee and many of our members, we are here to help you navigate your professional career and lead you on a path for success. If you are unsure where to begin your involvement, join us at an event in Indianapolis or send us an email and we will connect you with someone who is willing to help! Thanks to all of you for being amazing division members and we hope to see you soon! 

Author: Matt Grandbois, Councilor

The Spring 2023 Council Meeting of the American Chemical Society will be meeting for a hybrid session on Wednesday, March 29^th starting at 8:00am ET hosted out of Indianapolis, IN during the Spring 2023 ACS National Meeting. There are several items that will be up for action both leading up to, and during, this meeting that I believe are impactful to PROF members. I summarize these items below and state my current intentions as your elected Councilor, but as always, feel free to review the full Spring 2023 Council Agenda available on the ACS website or contact me to discuss these issues:

• Due to the election of a member of ConC to the ACS Board of Directors, a special election is currently ongoing to fill this vacancy for a one-year term (2023) with the results to be announced during the Spring 2023 Council Meeting. Al Hazari (East Tennessee) and Daniel Rabinovich (Carolina-Piedmont) are standing for election. Neither candidate is a PROF member, yet both are incredibly well positioned to serve in this capacity as excellent and experienced leaders within the ACS. Due to his connectivity to the greater international community, I intended to vote for Daniel Rabinovich by the close of the election on March 2.
• Candidates for 2024 ACS President-Elect have been selected and will provide remarks as part of the open town hall scheduled for Sunday, March 26^th at the ACS National Meeting in Indianapolis. Due to an unforeseen circumstance, one candidate withdrew earlier this year leaving three candidates that will be reduced to 2 candidates by Council vote this spring:

• Mary K Engelman (retired, Eastman Chemical)
  • Dorothy J Phillips (retired, Waters Corporation)
  • Florian J Schattenmann (Chief Technology Officer, Cargill)

All three are outstanding candidates with more than sufficient experience and professional qualities to fulfill their duties within the ACS Presidential Succession. None of the candidates are PROF members, yet I personally know all three of them and can attest to their leadership capabilities. I do not have a plan of action yet, as I will form it after listening to their remarks as part of the Spring 2023 Town Hall.

• Nominees for District III and District VI Director-At-Large positions on the ACS Board of Director include several PROF members and recently active members of PROF leadership. Past Chair Janet Bryant is standing for District VI and former PROF EC member Benny Chan is standing for District III. Only members of their district will be eligible to vote, so I encourage all PROF members to review the election slate and take an active position to elect your District representative to the ACS Board of Directors.
• In addition to District representatives, 2 Director-At-Large positions will be elected by ACS Councilors later this Fall for a three -year term (2024-2026). These candidates include:

• Wayne E Jones jr. (incumbent)
  • Daniel Rabinovich
  • Carolyn Ribes (incumbent)
  • Joseph P. Stoner

Both candidates Ribes and Stoner are PROF members, with Joe being the most recent recipient of the PROF Henry Hill Award. PROF membership greatly influences my voting as your Councilor, yet I would be amiss to diminish the wonderful leadership and qualifications of both candidates Jones and Rabinovich. As voting will not occur until latter in the year, I would welcome hearing from PROF members on their thoughts prior to the Fall 2023 ACS National meeting.

• The ACS Committee on Nominations & Elections (N&E) is actively seeking candidates for ACS President, District Director, and Director-at-Large for the 2025 calendar year. Submissions are requested to go through the ACS Nominations Intake Form.
• The ACS Committee on Council Policy (CPC) has submitted a petition for action that would amend the duties of CPC within the ACS Standing Rules to act as the “conduct committee for Council” that would enable them to take action to remove ACS Councilors if there was sufficient evidence that such an action would be necessary to mitigate adverse impact on the Society. I am currently sitting on CPC as an elected Member and from my position I do support this petition with the intention of voting to approve it as it mirrors similar mechanism for the ACS Board and provides a mechanism for future action if needed. Without this amendment, there is no way to remove a Councilor if grossly negligent or if they conduct themselves in a way that significantly impacts the ACS in negative way.
• The ACS Committee on Committees (ConC) has submitted a petition for action that would amend the name and duties of the ACS Committee on Environmental Improvement within the Standing Rules. The proposed change would replace “Improvement” in name and duties to “and Sustainability” to better reflect this Committees mission and focus. If approved, the newly named Committee on Environment and Sustainability (CES) would continue to focus its efforts on environmental improvement through leadership promoting sustainability. I believe this is a good change and will be voting to in favor of this petition.
• There will be a special discussion on the floor of Council related to the current efforts of ConC to evaluate the ACS Committee System. An external consulting agency has been employed to help survey and provide recommendations to ACS on how to improve this system to better serve the current and future membership of ACS. Please contact me if you have opinions about this topic so that I can incorporate them into remarks I will give on the ACS Councilor floor.
• The ACS Committee on Nominations & Elections (N&E) has submitted a petition for action that would amend the Standing Rules to provide a “Plan B” in the case of a force majeure impacting the ability of a significant number of Councilors to cast their votes during a Council meeting. This language has been used an approved by CPC over the past few meetings, so this petition is merely to have this provision codified into the Standing Rules. As such, I plan to vote in favor of this petition
• The ACS Committee on Membership Affairs (MAC) has submitted a petition to change the 2024 Schedule of Membership. These changes include
  • removing access of printed copies of C&EN (digital access will remain) to student members
  • provide Society Affiliates access to a discounted Standard Membership as means to enable marketing of this adjacent potential membership base
  • expand the disability waiver to eliminate the requirement of any span of time that a Member has experienced a disability and reduce the number of years of dues payment down to one in order to qualify.
  • Remove the age requirement of 70 years of age from the Emeritus membership eligibility making this membership class accessible to any member who has paid due for at least 35 years.

This petition has been assembled with advice from the ACS Committee on Chemists with Disabilities (CWD) and Senior Chemists Committee (SCC). Furthermore, the ACS Committee on Budget & Finance has review this and found that this change would have a significant negative impact on the Society’s finances, but MAC has expressed that this will have a significantly positive impact on membership. I expect there to be much debate on this as it gets to the fundamental question of how much should ACS governance activities be supported by CAS/PUBS vs. membership dues. Due to this complexity, I have not yet formed my opinion on this vote.

• Finally, the ACS Committee on Constitution & Bylaws (C&B) have put forward a petition to add International Representation to the ACS Board of Directors by creating one International Director elected by ACS members that live outside of the United States and Canada who are not members of other Local Sections. The term and duties of this newly created position will be consistent with other members of the ACS Board. It is important to note that this petition is supported by all current members of the ACS Board. As representation of ALL ACS members is critical for a functioning professional society, I plan on voting in favor of this petition.

As your Councilor, I am very interested in hearing from you and hearing your thoughts, perspectives, and preference on any of the above items up for action. Feel free to contact me March 15, 2023 so that I can take your input into account prior to my vote on these items. Stay safe and take care!

Author: Gloria Thomas-Fuller, Awards Chair

The American Chemical Society Division of Professional Relations invites nominations for the following awards:

• Henry A. Hill Award — recognizes people who have served the profession in a unique and distinguished manner.
• Lou Sacco Award — recognizes persons who have served the Division of Professional Relations in a meritorious and exemplary manner over a significant period of time.

Nominations should include a letter from a primary nominee that explains the candidate’s qualifications for the award according to the criteria. (The Henry A. Hill award requires a secondary letter of nomination. A second letter is optional for the Lou Sacco Award.)  Please also include the candidate’s resume or CV.

Send nominations to awards@acsprof.org by January 18, 2023.