Two awards from the Division of Professional Relations (PROF or DPR) will be presented at the PROF Henry Hill Reception on Tuesday, August 19, from 5:00 – 7:00 PM in the Washington DC Convention Center, Room 149 A/B.
The reception will honor two outstanding PROF volunteers, Lisa Balbes and Keith Vitense. We will welcome all PROF and ACS members to this celebration to honor these outstanding members of our Division.
Lisa Balbes is the 2025 Henry Hill Award Winner, This award is named in honor of Henry Aaron Hill (May 30, 1915 – March 17, 1979), who became the American Chemical Society’s first African American president in 1977. He is highly regarded for establishing standards for employer-employee relationships in the chemical profession. Early in his career, racial prejudices made it difficult for Hill to land a job. Eventually he would rise to vice president of the North Atlantic Research Corporation in Newtonville, Massachusetts, where he performed research on water-based paints, firefighting foam, and synthetic rubber. In 1962, Hill founded the National Polychemicals, Inc, to supply chemical intermediates for the polymer industry.
Each year PROF cites the contributions of an annual winner, who has been deemed an outstanding volunteer, who has worked in the same giving spirit of Henry Hill. Lisa Balbes is such an outstading member. She will be honored at a symposium that summarizes her years of work to the profession. This will take place on Tuesday afternoon from 2:00-4:00 PM in the Washington Convention Center, Room 142.
Keith Vitense is the Lou Sacco Award Winner. This award is in honor of Louis J. Sacco, who was an energetic volunteer of the Division of PROF and in ACS. This award recognizes persons who have served the Division of Professional Relations in a meritorious and exemplary manner over a significant period of time.
