Harvard University Faculty Club

NESACS Board Meeting

Harvard University Faculty Club

Cambridge MA

April 17th, 2008

Members in Attendance: E. J. Billo, M. Burgess, M. Chen, T. Gilbert, M. Hearn, M. Hoffman, C. Jaworek-Lopez, D. Lewis, M. Mahaney, D. Phillips, J. Piper, D. Rickter, M. Schwartz, J. D. Smith, R. Tanner, A. Tapper

The meeting was called to order at 4:40 PM with M. Schwartz in the Chair

The minutes of March 2008 were approved with minor modifications.

Chair: M. Schwartz

Ø  The chair reported that she presented the Norris Award at National meeting. She also reported that Doris Lewis has re-nominated Christine Jaworek-Lopez for the Northeast Region Award for Excellence in Volunteer Services.

Chair-Elect: J. Billo

Ø  The October meeting can be held at Henderson House, but only if the meeting is held on Wednesday October 15. As it appeared that this change of meeting day, from Thursday to Wednesday, was acceptable to the Board, the meeting will be scheduled for that date.

Secretary: M. Singer

Ø  No report

Treasurer: J. Piper

Ø  The Treasurer's report was approved by voice vote.

Trustees

Ø  No report

Councilors' Reports: M. Hoffman

Ø  I attended the following meetings, sessions, and events during the national meeting:

Ø  Meeting of the College Chemistry Subcommittee of SOCED (Society Committee on Education) on Thursday afternoon and evening.

Ø  SOCED Executive Session all day Friday.

Ø  Joint reception for members of CPT (Committee on Professional Training) and SOCED on Friday evening.

Ø  Meeting of the Executive Committee of CHED (Division of Chemical Education) on Saturday morning.

Ø  Meeting of the International Activities Committee of CHED early on Sunday morning.

Ø  Meeting of the Organizing Committee of the conferences on Frontiers in Chemical Sciences (“Malta” Conferences) on Sunday morning.

Ø  Presidential Symposium on Science Education on Sunday afternoon.

Ø  Town Hall meeting with the ACS presidential nominees on Sunday afternoon

Ø  Receptions for the Royal Society of Chemistry, International Activities Committee, and Minority Affairs Committee on Sunday evening.

Ø  Achievement in Research in Teaching Award symposium on Monday morning.

Ø  CHED Business Meeting and the chemical exposition at noon on Monday.

Ø  Presidential Energy Research symposium on Monday afternoon.

Ø  ACS Board-Staff reception on Monday evening.

Ø  Pimentel Award in Chemical Education symposium on Tuesday morning and afternoon.

Ø  District I Councilor Caucus on Tuesday afternoon.

Ø  Awards Reception and Banquet on Tuesday evening.

Ø  Council meeting on Wednesday morning

Councilor Report: R. Lichter (by written report)

Ø  My activities at the ACS meeting as a newly elected NESACS Councilor did not differ substantially from those before my election. Now in my third year as a full member of the Society Committee on Budget and Finance (B&F), I participated in the discussions of and voted on various budget-related issues. The Committee will shortly launch a revised Web site that will report details of the ACS budget for member examination. I have accepted an invitation to chair the Program Funding Request subcommittee, which reviews the budget of all new-program proposals and, in the case of multi-year programs, renewal proposals. The subcommittee gives guidance on preparation of proposals, reviews the proposals for budgetary suitability, and makes recommendations for action to the full B&F Committee, for further recommendation to the ACS Board of Directors. The process is designed to ensure diligent scrutiny of new ACS programmatic expenditures. The subcommittee’s work will begin in April.

Ø  I am also a member of B&F’s Program Review Advisory Group (PRAG), which was established to advise B&F in fulfilling its responsibilities in “studying and making recommendations to the Board of Directors on the allocation of funds to the various areas of activity to the Society,” and “studying all activities supported by the budget and recommending to the Board of Directors and Council... an order of priorities, including termination of programs, based upon determination of costs and effectiveness” (Bylaw III, 3, e, (1) a). Several years earlier, I had been a member of the Task Force that established PRAG. Membership of PRAG consists of representatives of the Board of Directors, the Council, B&F, and the chairs of the cognizant committees for the programs under review. In 2008, the second year of PRAG’s activities, the programs under review are the Awards Program, Regional Meetings, Divisional Activities, Legislative and Government Affairs, and International Activities. Work will begin in April and continue through the end of the year.

Ø  In early June, I will participate in B&F’s Financial Planning Conference, which will review and chart ACS’s budgetary and financial strategies for the next few years.

Ø  Prior to the ACS meeting, I took part in a conference call with the Committee on Nominations and Elections, which is reviewing the timetable and procedures for election of the ACS President-Elect. I spoke in favor of shortening the time line and of requiring petition candidates to join N&E nominees in speaking before the Council before final selection of candidates. I also took part in a Web-based conference call (WebEx) to discuss implications of the ACS Strategic Goal #2: ACS will be the indispensable professional and information resource for our members and other chemistry- related practitioners. I continue to be a member of the Advisory Committee to the ACS Office of Communications’ Strategic Plan development, and of the advisory committee to the ACS Scholars Program.

Ø  As a new councilor, I attended an orientation session organized and expertly run by NESACS Councilor Tom Gilbert, who is vice chair of the Council Policy Committee. Councilors were made familiar with the structure of the Council and of two important committees, the Committee on Committees, and the Committee on Budget and Finance.

Ø  I also attended the presidential nominee “Town meeting,” where the four nominees for ACS president-elect—Dr. Thomas Barton, Iowa State University; Dr. R. Steven Berry, University of Chicago; Dr. Joseph Francisco, Purdue University; and Dr. Joseph Michl, University of Utah—responded to questions. All the nominees were thoughtful and highly articulate. At the Council meeting, councilors selected Drs. Francisco and Michl as the candidates, ensuring that the next ACS president-elect will be named Joe.

Ø  At the ACS meeting, I attended a symposium organized by the Women Chemists Committee called “STARS: Science and Technology Awards and Recognitions for Professionals in the Chemical Sciences.” Mechanisms and strategies for being nominated for ACS and other awards were presented, in order to increase the recognition of accomplishments by women and others underrepresented among awards recipients. Organized jointly with AIChE, presenters included ACS Board members, staff, and successful award nominators and recipients.

Ø  I attended part of a symposium acknowledging the 10th anniversary of the Arnold O. and Mabel Beckman Foundation Undergraduate Scholars Program. This program provides support for undergraduates to do research in the summer.

Ø  My main activity other than Council business was to preside over the symposium I organized for the George C. Pimentel Award in Chemical Education in honor of Richard Zare, whom I had nominated and who, in 2004, had won the NESACS James Flack Norris Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Teaching of Chemistry. The all-day symposium featured speakers who directly or indirectly all had connections either with Zare or with George Pimentel, including his wife, Jeanne Pimentel. Among the array of distinguished and impassioned speakers was NESACS member Dudley Herschbach, Zare’s dissertation advisor. The symposium was characterized by provocative presentations and a deep and abiding affection for the awardee. Attendance reached standing-room-only proportions. I also attended the awards dinner as a guest of Dr. Zare.

Ø  Details of Council and Board actions will appear separately. However, in the interest of transparency, I voted for Drs. Berry and Francisco as candidates for president-elect, and in favor of all the Council’s approved items.

Councilor Report – C. Jaworek-Lopes

Ø  As a member the Committee of Community Activities (CCA), I attended the meeting held on April 5, 2008. I will be participating in judging of the NCW and CCED ChemLuminary Awards. In addition, I will be drafting an acknowledgement letter that will be given to all CCED and NCW coordinators that have submitted ChemLuminary Awards.

Ø  On behalf of the Volunteer Recognition and Engagement Subcommittee of CCA, I presented a poster entitled, Developing and Maintaining Successful Chemists Celebrate Earth Day Programs, at the CHED and Sci-Mix poster sessions.

Ø  I attended the 2009 NCW Theme Team meeting. During this meeting we discussed the logistics of getting new periodic tables to every school, the community event, puzzles and activities to be placed in the Celebrating Chemistry magazine.

Ø  As part of the Chem Demo Exchange Program, Elise Zablowsky, Jason Noguiera, and I presented our hands-on activity entitled, “Holding Your Home Together with Nails”.

Councilor Report – M. Singer (by written report)

Ø  As a member the Local Sections Activities Committee (LSAC) I attended committee meetings on Saturday and Sunday.

Ø  The committee reviewed the impact of the constitution and by-law change for student affiliates becoming student members of the ACS for all local sections. The impact on NESACS is estimated to be an approximate increase of 500 members to the sections. It is likely that this increase will make NESACS the largest local section of the ACS. Likewise, it is anticipated that we will have an extra councilor allotted in the next census cycle.

Ø  The committee also spoke about the need for communications and up to date communications. Websites, e-newsletters, and list-serve services were all discussed in some detail.

Ø  ACS will be rolling out a new membership services web feature. This on-line community of chemists will hopefully engage members to find members with similar interests.

Ø  I also served as LSAC Liaison to Project Seed. Project Seed is holding its 40th anniversary this year. Many activities are planned for the Spring and Fall ACS National meetings.

Local Arrangements: M. Burgess

Ø  About eighty guests are expected for the dinner this evening

Education Committee: R. Tanner

Ø  Fifteen applications have been received for the Norris/Richards Summer Fellowships. Winners will be announced next Wednesday.

Ø  NSCRC will be held on Saturday at Tufts University. There are about 70 registrants so far.

Board of Publications: M. Mahaney

Ø  The committee is working to revamp the website.

Ø  The Nucleus is over budget; the committee is considering ways to avoid a deficit.

Ø  The committee is looking for volunteers.

Membership Committee: M. Chen

Ø  91 “Welcome New member” letters were sent during March, There were 21 new members, plus 70 transfers from other section, but new to our section.

Ø  3 new members will attend Esselen Award dinner:

o  Mark E. Fleury MIT

o  Nakul Telang NEU

o  Larry Hamann Novartis

NCW: C. Jaworek-Lopes

Ø  We received eight haikus (four from grades 9-12; one from grades 3-5; three from grades K-2) from three different schools as part of the CCED haiku competition. One haiku from each grade range was sent on to the ACS Office of Community Activities.

Ø  The winning haikus are:

Ø  Grades K-2: Zacary Carelli – Shaker Lane School, Littleton

Ø  Mother Earth is good.

Ø  Rivers, her good creation.

Ø  Save all of the streams.

Ø  Grades 3-5: Jennifer Bindman, Franklin Elementary School, West Newton

Ø  Water, drip drop splash!

Ø  Splatter rain pour, steam ice snow

Ø  Vapor, gas, water.

Ø  Grades 9-12: Norwood High School, Norwood, MA

Ø  A tiny goldfish

Ø  Pollution destroyed his home

Ø  PLEASE! Keep water clean.

Ø  We will be partnering with Malden High School’s Chemistry Club, the Massachusetts Bays Estuary Association (MBEA), and the Boston Children’s Museum (BCM) for Earth Day. The MBEA will be providing an enviroscape model as well as water samples from different bays. The Malden High Students will test these waters using a variety of colorimetric test strips for BCM visitors.

Ø  The NCW 2008 kick-off event will be held at the MoS-Boston on Saturday, October 18, 2008. We will also be holding an NCW event at the BCM on October 25, 2008.

NERM: M. Hoffman

Ø  NERM 2008 will be held at the Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center, Burlington, VT, June 29-July 2. The Green Mountain Local Section will serve as the host. The abstract deadline is May 11. For details about the meeting, see <http://www.nerm2008.org/index.html>. NERM 2009 will be held at the Hilton Hotel, Hartford, CT, October 7-10. The Connecticut Valley Local Section will serve as the host. The website for the meeting has not yet been opened. Although the ACS national meeting will be held in Boston in August 2010, the Rochester Local Section has expressed an interest in hosting NERM 2010 in Rochester, NY, sometime in October in celebration of its centenary.

Ø  At the recent ACS national meeting in New Orleans, Dr. Kurt Begitt (German Chemical Society) and I had conversations with Dr. Brad Miller, interim director of the ACS International Activities Division, about possible ACS support toward the visit of representatives of the Jungchemikerforum to the national meeting in Boston (2010) as part of the NESACS German Exchange. Dr. Miller suggested that a prospectus be developed for submission to ACS in which the details of the visit and its relevance to the ACS Strategic Goals are presented. This activity will be undertaken in conjunction with the German Exchange Organizing Committee, which represents NESACS, its Education Committee, and its Younger Chemists Committee.

Public Relations and Career Services: M. Chorghade (by written report

Ø  Our April mega-event was a tremendous success. This was the second annual symposium catering to the needs of the pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and biotech industries in the Boston area.

Ø  The “Advances in Chemical Sciences Symposium” conference, held on April 11, 2008 was a spectacular success. The symposium was a day-long celebration of Chemistry and was held at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Cambridge, MA. Under the auspices of this conference,eminent scientists from the triad of government and industry and academia delivered plenary lectures. The conference brought together 300+ scientistsfor a scholarly event focusing on medicinal chemistry, organic synthesis and methodology. This year’s plenary lecturers were Magid Abou-Gharbia (SVP, Wyeth), Mark Goulet, (Executive Director, Merck Research Laboratories), Timothy F. Jamison, (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), John Piwinski (SVP, Schering Plough), Mathew Shair, (Professor, Harvard University), Erik J. Sorensen, (Professor, Princeton University). The topical focus areas – medicinal chemistry, pharmaceutical and organic synthesis are areas where the chemical enterprise in our area has a well deserved reputation for excellence.