Minutes of Executive Meeting of Maryland Section of American Chemical Society

Knott Hall, Stevenson UniversityTuesday September 17, 2013

Sara Narayan presiding

The meeting was called to order at 6:40 p.m.

The following were present: Alvin Bober, Charles Chen, Rob Clapper, Holly Cymet,Merle Eiss, Dana Ferraris, Louise Hellwig, Jan Kolakowski, Sara Narayan, Jim Saunders, Shirish Shah, Angela Sherman, Paul Smith, Frank Switzer, Stephanie Watson

Announcements:

George Farrant and Sandy Young could not be present.

Charles Chen, a Michigan State grade and currently a Masters student at Hopkins was introduced.

The revised Minutes from the last meeting, April 17, 2013, were approved.

A nominee for the NERM award is being solicited.

Angela Sherman gave a brief Treasurer’s Report. We have about $14,000 in the checking account.

MARM: $22,000 is still in dispute with the Holiday Inn. After an intervention by the Maryland States Attorney, the hotel general manager offered to split the difference, giving us about $11,000. We are holding on to that offer, but asking that our refund be increased to $15,000. Any such money received will have to be split with the national ACS.

Sandy Young has agreed to run for Chair-Elect. Holly Cymet and Angela Sherman attended the Aberdeen event at which Sandy received the Outreach Volunteer Award.

Future outreach events may need parents to sign a waiver, for insurance purposes.

The September Undergraduate Event is on track to be quite successful. About 33 students have RSVPed so far. A food budget of $500-600 was approved. Seven panelists have been lined up. Perhaps next year we might work with Dave Rivers at Loyola who runs a similar event.

Stephanie Watson has e-mailed the Councilors Report from the national ACS meeting in Indianapolis. Some good news: the unemployment rate for chemists is about half the national average. The ChemLuminary awards were discussed; it seems we should do some self-nominating for this award.

A new professor at Towson University, Dr. Kelly Elkins, has applied to run for the position of Alternate Councilor. Sandy Young has agreed to run for Chair-Elect. Campus Vote will run our election for about $1800. Bios and statements from new candidates are requested.

On Thursday Oct. 24 the Braude Award will be given to Dr. Alexis Nagengast of Widener University in Pennsylvania. The dinner will be at Morgan. Louise Hellwig is arranging the details.

It was agreed to allot $5000 for student travel grants to the national ACS meeting in Dallas in spring. We will state in the call for applications that in order to give as many students a chance as possible, priority will be given to students who have not previously won a travel award from the section, and that at first pass we will not award grants to more than two students per school. The deadline for applications will be January 31, 2014, with students being notified of our decision within a week.

Sandy will e-mail us the list of National Chemistry Week events she has lined up. She welcomes our presence at any or all of the events. This year’s theme is Energy.

Sara Narayan reported that the Women Chemists meeting is Thurs. Nov. 14 at Stevenson. The speaker will be Dr. Kathie Seley-Radtke of UMBC.

Angela Sherman reported that the Maryland Chemist of the Year meeting is Weds. Dec. 11 at Notre Dame. The speaker is Dr. Paul Mahaffey of NASA Goddard. He will receive a plaque.

Holly Cymet found the Constant Contact workshop she attended over the summer very helpful and has reworked our website.

We have a survey out to determine our members’ vision for the section.

Holly Cymet discussed the plans for our 100th anniversary next year, outlined on two papers, entitled Preliminary Framework for the 2014 Celebration Year, and Objectives of the 100th Anniversary Celebrations for the Maryland Section. A history of the section is being compiled. A logo has been designed by Daryl Cunningham. A special event is envisioned for Sept. or Oct. 2014.

The expenses of the Remsen Award meeting were discussed. Dana Ferraris and Angela Sherman will meet with the chair of the Hopkins Chemistry Department to clarify to JHU what our budget for this meeting is.

The next meeting will be Tuesday December 10 or Thursday Dec. 12. This meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Louise Hellwig, Secretary