This is an updated version of an article appearing in the April 1997 issue of the Chemical Bulletin. It should help you with your decisions in electing councilors and alternate councilors in the upcoming Chicago Section election. Remember to cast your vote in our fall election.
Have you ever wondered who and what ACS councilors and alternate councilors are and what they do for you and the Chicago Section? The two major structural components of the Society besides your national officers and Board of Directors are local sections and divisions. ACS local sections and divisions not only elect their own officers, but also elect representatives to the ACS Council, the deliberative body of the Society. This is your opportunity to have a voice in Society's governance.
The Council consists of the President, the President-Elect, the Directors, the Past Presidents, the Executive Director, the Secretary, and more than 400 voting Councilors representing Local Sections and Divisions. The Council convenes twice a year at the Society's national meetings.
Councilors provide the principal contact between local section members and governance leaders in setting policies for the ACS that directly or indirectly affect you. Councilors are elected to serve a three-year term. Alternate Councilors represent the section when a Councilor is unable to attend a Council meeting.
Councilors also serve on National committees that meet during National meetings. Councilors are appointed to these committees by the President of the Society and are eligible to serve only three consecutive terms on the same committee. A councilor who accepts an appointment to a committee accepts an obligation to work year-round throughout that term. The Councilor is expected to attend meetings of the committee, and be willing to undertake special assignments that require time between meetings.
Committees of the Council are:
- Standing Committees: Constitution and Bylaws, Divisional Activities, Local Section Activities, Meetings and Expositions, Membership Affairs, and Economic and Professional Affairs
- Society Committees: Budget and Finance, and Education
- Joint Board-Council Committees: Chemical Abstracts Service, Chemistry and Public Affairs, Chemists with Disabilities, Community Activities, Environmental Improvement, International Activities, Patents and Related matters, Professional Training, Public Relations and Communications, Publications, Science, Minority Affairs, Chemical Safety, Women Chemists, and Younger Chemists
- Other Committees of the Council: Analytical Reagents, Ethics, Nomenclature, Project SEED, and Technician Affairs; and
- Elected Committees: Council Policy, Nominations and Elections, and Committee on Committees.
The Chicago Section is, in September 2015, currently represented by 10 councilors elected by you. All of these councilors are members or associates on National ACS committees. Your Chicago Section Councilors and their current committee appointments are:
- Charles E. Cannon (Local Section Activities)
- David S. Crumrine (Constitution and Bylaws)
- Ken Fivizzani (Community Activities)
- Fran Kravitz (Local Section Activities)
- Russell W. Johnson (Chemistry and Public Affairs)
- Margy Levenberg
- Milt Levenberg (Public Relations and Communications)
- Inessa Miller
- Barbara E. Moriarty (Professional Relations Divisional Representative on Science; Great Lakes Regional Board Chair)
- Susan Shih (Education).
Alternate Councilors for the Chicago Section are:
- Amber Arzadon
- Irene Cesa (Chemical Safety)
- Thomas Higgins (Education)
- Josh Kurutz
- Mark Kaiser
- Mike Koehler (Chemical Safety)
- Avrom Litin (Analytical Reagents; Community Activities).
Other Section members involved on National ACS committees are:
- Mark Cesa (Science),
- Lin Chen (Publications),
- Herb Golinkin (Senior Chemists),
- Lauren Jackson (AGFD Divisional Representative on Science),
- Gail Karet (Nomenclature, Terminology and Symbols),
- Katie Leach (Younger Chemists)
- Zafra Lerman (Chemistry and Public Affairs),
- Lisa Mueller (Patents and Related Matters),
- Andrea Twiss-Brooks (Council Policy),
- Beau Wangtrakuldee (Younger Chemists) and
- Don Wink (Education).
We have section members who are involved in other activities related to the National Meetings. For example, Fran Kravitz, Charles Cannon, and Herb Golinkin are career consultants who do resume reviews and mock interviews during National meetings. Fran Kravitz, Charles Cannon and Katy Leach are also career workshop instructors.
Your Councilors and Alternate Councilors ask for your help in providing your opinions about the Society and issues relating to the Society. This will help Councilors better represent you during Council.
- FRAN KRAVITZ
