Report from the Fall 2021
ACS Council Meeting
The 262nd National Meeting of the ACS took place as a hybrid meeting from August 22-26, 2021. The theme of the meeting was “Resilience of Chemistry.” Dr. H. N. Cheng, ACS President, presided over the Virtual Council Meeting on August 25, 2021, with about 500 people in attendance online. The Chicago Section was represented at Council by the following 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).
Election Results: Elected Committees of Council
By electronic ballots, the Council elected:
• Donna G. Friedman, Matthew Grandbois, Fran K. Kravitz (Chicago Section), and Louise Lawter for three-year terms (2022-2024) on the Council Policy Committee.
• Mary K. Engelman, Malika Jeffries-El, Brian M. Mathes, Susan V. Olesik, and Susan M. Schelble for three-year terms (2022-2024) on the Committee on Committees.
• Allison Aldridge, Holly L. Davis, Peter K. Dorhout, Silvia Ronco, and Martin D. Rudd for three-year terms (2022-2024) on the Committee on Nominations and Elections.
Finances
The Society’s 2021 financial performance through June 30 yielded a Net Surplus from Operations of $55.0 million, which is $33.6 million favorable to budget and almost $6 million greater than for the same period in 2020. These mid-year results are based on total revenues of $324.4 million that are 4.3% favorable to budget, and total expenses of $269.4 million, or 7% below budget. Unrestricted net assets are estimated at $645 million.
Governance
Council approved the Petition to Amend the Duties of the Committee on Minority Affairs. The Petition was amended on the floor of Council to strike the word ‘minority’ in Standing Rule VIII, Sec. 1, b, (9). The committee expands its “long-range plan to ensure increased participation of chemical professionals from underrepresented and marginalized groups in the profession and in the SOCIETY at all levels.” Council and the Board approved the continuation of the Committee on Environmental Improvement and also approved adoption of the 10th edition of the Professional Employment Guidelines.
President Cheng introduced and led a special discussion on ideas to increase involvement and membership from business and industry, noting a 5-year decrease of industrial membership. There have been ongoing efforts to decrease cost-related attrition while also increasing member value. To address value, ACS has a variety of offerings available to members to advance, discover, connect, and share their interests in chemistry. To address cost, actions taken by Council this past spring in the schedule of membership for 2022 will provide industry members with flexibility in membership options.
Committee on Committees (ConC)
To assist ACS in advancing its core value of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Respect, ConC encourages all committee members and ACS leaders to take the two-hour course entitled “Leading Inclusively: Beyond Lip Service,” developed by La’Wana Harris, Certified Diversity Executive, International Coaching Federation (ICF) Credentialed Coach, and global leadership development professional. To register, please go to https://learning.acs.org/course/view.php?id=996.
Meetings and Expositions
As of August 25, 2021, the 262nd ACS National Meeting had attracted 8,205 registrants (1,895 hybrid and 6,310 virtual). Of the approximately 1,200 oral sessions that were held, 71 were only in-person, 244 were hybrid, and 855 were held virtually.
If you have any questions or comments, please contact me at
[email protected].
- KEN FIVIZZANI
