Report to the Executive Committee
of the
Virginia Section of the American Chemical Society
January 21, 2017
Women Chemists Committee
The Virginia Section Women Chemists Committee holds activities to align with the mission and goals of the national WCC. From the ACS website:
The Women Chemists Committee (WCC) serves the membership of the American Chemical Society. Our mission is to be leaders in attracting, developing, promoting, and advocating for women in the chemical sciences in order to positively impact society and the profession. There are four goals designed to fulfill the mission statement:
· Increase participation and retention of women in the chemical sciences and related disciplines
· Take an advocacy position within the ACS on issues of importance to women in the chemical sciences.
· Provide leadership for career developmentopportunities for women in the chemical sciences and related disciplines
· Promote and recognize the professional accomplishments of women in the chemical sciences and related disciplines
Towards this, the Virginia WCC events offer opportunities for women chemists to network and develop professional connections and to recognize the careers of women chemical scientists. The latter is a way of educating and encouraging female students to undertake chemistry careers. The Virginia WCC also identifies women speakers for Section events. WCC events are open to all Section members, but the programming is geared to women chemists and those who support the goals of the WCC.
Summary of 2016 Events
Nine members attended a networking breakfast on Thursday February 18 at Baker’s Crust in Carytown.
Eight members and guests attended a networking lunch on Friday April 22 at Chili’s at VCU. The topic of Women Scientists and Awards was discussed. Information shared indicates that there is a lack of women being nominated for technical awards. The group thought that promotion of the issue could help get members thinking more about qualified women scientists when making award nominations, and the suggestion of writing an article for the Bulletin was given.
A glass blowing demonstration was held on Thursday June 2 at Research Glass in Richmond. About a dozen members and students attended the demonstration given by glass blowers, Mert Felts and John Bivins. The demonstration included discussion of the different types of glass used, techniques used to make different effects in glass, and examples of laboratory glassware for various applications. The process for making hand-blown glass Christmas tree ornaments was presented, with each attendee receiving an ornament as a souvenir. Thanks to John Bivins for his generous hospitality in hosting this event.
The 8th annual Chemistry Career Discussion Panel was held at the University of Richmond on September 29. Approximately 70 students, members and guests attended. The meeting was co-sponsored by the Powell Lectureship Series, and the focus was on encouraging female minority students. Panel members included Dr. Hilda Castillo, Research Operations Manager for the Harvard Program in Therapeutic Sciences (HiTS) at the Harvard Medical School; Dr. Carleitta Paige-Anderson, Director of the Center for Undergraduate Research (CUR) at Virginia Union University; Dr. Patricia Silveyra, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Biochemistry, and Molecular Biology and Humanities at the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine; and Dr. Denise Walters, a Senior Manager in the Science and Technology Group at Pfizer Consumer Healthcare in Richmond. Thanks to Emma Goldman and Carol Parish for organizing this event. The WCC would also like to acknowledge the joint financial support from the Powell lecture.
A chemistry week event for middle school students planned for October 2016 had to be cancelled. The event was jointly sponsored by the WCC and the WestRock Women of Science and Engineering group, and was promoted via direct email to science teachers at 22 middle schools in the Richmond area and to the MSIC community relations office. The event was cancelled because of poor response attributed to timing too close to the beginning of the school year. This was unfortunate as there was good synergy between WestRock and the 2016 NCW theme of chemistry of fibers. Thanks to Maria Szajda-Lamand her colleagues at WestRock for their efforts in planning this event.
Seven members attended a networking lunch was held on Friday December 2 at the Chili’s at VCU.
Plans for 2017
The next networking meeting for the Women Chemists Committee of the Virginia Section of the ACS will be held at Baker’s Crust on Thursday February 23 at 8:30 am. Discussion will include setting dates for future events and of women scientists in “Hidden Figures” and whether lack of visibility is still a problem for women in science today. RSVP by February 21 to Kathyrn Deibler (). Additional networking meetings will be held throughout 2017.
The 9th annual WCC career discussion event will be hosted at Virginia Union University in the fall of 2017. Past experience has shown that this is the preferred timing for the career panel’s target audience of undergraduate students. Speaker suggestions are requested. Thanks to Dorothy Eseonu for volunteering to hold this event.
WCC would like to sponsor the Management and Mentor Training Workshop Event being planned for 2017. The goal of the event is to provide training and open discussion for chemists interested in learning soft skills associated with managing groups, communicating, mentoring and coaching. WCC members attending would receive a special registration price.
Maria Szajda-Lam volunteered to research what would be a better month for a career event for middle school students, and a new location for the event is needed, probably for Spring of 2018. Suggestions and volunteers are welcomed to organize this or other events.
Budget
The WCC respectfully requests that a total of $3000 be allocated in the 2017 budget for WCC activities. The increased amount will divided between speaker travel, programs and other expenses of the annual career discussion panel at be held at VUU and refreshments, training materials, and speaker for the new career workshop (estimated to be $1000).
Respectfully,
Stephanie Mabry