Report of ACS Council Meeting held on August 19, 2020
The 260th National Meeting of the ACS was held virtually, August 16 – 20, 2020. The theme of this meeting was “Moving Chemistry from Bench to Market.” Dr. H. N. Chang, ACS President-Elect, presided over the Council Meeting. The Chicago Section was represented at Council by the following eight councilors: Paul Brandt (Public Relations and Communications), David Crumrine (Constitution and Bylaws), Ken Fivizzani (Community Activities), Russell Johnson (International Activities), Fran Kravitz (Ethics), Margy Levenberg (Meetings and Expositions), Milt Levenberg (Senior Chemists), and Susan Shih (Society Committee on Education).
Finances: The Society’s 2020 financial performance through July 31st yielded a Net from Operations of $55.7 million, or $25 million greater than the same period in 2019. Total revenues are $354 million, 5% ahead of last year, and total expenses are $298 million, or 3% below last year. Unrestricted Net Assets increased to $466 million. The most direct revenue impact to the Society related to the COVID pandemic has been to meeting-related revenues with the cancellation of the in-person Spring National Meeting as well as the in-person Green Chemistry Conference. Significant effort has been devoted to expense management. The Society expects to meet its budgeted net contribution of $41.3 million.
Governance: By electronic ballot, the Council elected five new members for each of the following Council Committees: Council Policy Committee (CPC); Committee on Committees (ConC); and Nominations and Elections (N&E). Council approved the Petition to Clarify Amendments to the Standing Rules and disbanded the Joint Board-Council Committee on Chemical Abstracts Service by a vote of 272 to 84. Council also approved the creation of an ACS International Chemical Sciences Chapter in Israel by a vote of 283 to 10. The Board of Directors confirmed all of these actions on August 21.
Meetings and Expositions: As of Wednesday, August 19, 2020, the 260th ACS National Meeting had attracted 6,477 registrants, including 4464 regular attendees and 2013 student attendees. In addition, the virtual presentation uploads were as follows: All Inclusive (SciMtgs), 1,735; Virtual Platform Only, 1,655; Temporary Access Option, 640; and Presentation Uploads, 4,067. There were 70 exhibitors. Attendance was roughly half that of a typical national meeting. Attendance by industrial members was about 75–80% of a typical meeting. The drop in attendance was much greater for academic and student attendees.
Fall Elections: ACS will organize a virtual Meet and Greet session with the two candidates for 2021 President-Elect: Dr. Mary K. Carroll and Dr. Angela K. Wilson. All ACS Members may vote for the President-Elect. A town hall for the Director-at-Large candidates was tentatively scheduled for September 21, 2020; only councilors vote for Directors-at-Large.
If you have any questions or comments about the above information, please contact me or one of your other councilors. You may contact me at kfivizzani-at-wowway.com.
