Fellow Councilors;
In my last written council report (New Orleans 2008) I confessed that my first few months as your president-elect made me feel like a child; full of wonderment, enthusiasm, and completely captivated by the possibilities for our Society. As I prepare for the fall meeting, I am pleased to report that my passion for this Society has not diminished! In fact, I feel energized each time that I have been given the opportunity to interact with our membership. In these few short months between council meetings I have visited several local sections, attended a regional meeting, participated in a National Historic Chemical Landmark, toured schools, talked with K-12 educators, interacted with scores of students, celebrated the accomplishments of our members at various award ceremonies, participated in the ACS Legislative Summit, made a video supporting participation in the Gii (Global Innovations Imperatives) and reached out to other professional organizations in the name of STEM education. Remarkably, the pace continues to quicken. Before we meet in Philadelphia, I will have also addressed a workshop entitled, “Reversing Global Warming: Chemical Recycling and Utilization of CO2,” sponsored by the National Science Foundation and Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute, University of Southern California; keynoted a session at the BCCE and refined my programming plans for 2009. On a personal note and during this same period of time, I attended my daughter’s, Julia, wedding and retained my fulltime employment status at the Dow Corning Corporation.
However, it is not about how busy you can keep yourself but the impact of your efforts. It would be impossible to catalog the impact of each interaction during these few months in this document so let me highlight only two. More than 10 members of the ACS Board of Directors, including the entire presidential succession, participated in the ACS Legislative Summit. The team visited 25 congressional offices arguing for the inclusion of science and education funding in the FY 2008 supplemental spending bill. Although the outcome of our arguments is not known today, we are extremely hopeful. Our voice is making a difference. Please consider joining the LAN, Legislative Action Network, http://www.act4chemistry.org.
The Global Innovations Imperatives, or Gii, is a collaborative program between the ACS Committee on Corporation Associates and the Society of Chemical Industry. The program was created to tackle global imperatives such as food, energy and water through collaboration and the transforming power of chemistry. The Gii is focusing, first, on the global issues associated with water. In April, Gii held a Town Hall session at the ACS Meeting in New Orleans and footage from that session can be found on the website www.thegii.org. Other events planned for 2008 include New Delhi, India and Shanghai, China. In 2009 activities are planned for Toronto, Puerto Rico, Salt Lake City and Washington, DC.
Thank you for your continued support.
Tom