Three (count ’em) Salutes to Excellence awarded

…and one Outstanding Service Award.

One of the outgoing Chair’s favorite parts of Continuity Night (second only to the actual outgoing thing) is presenting awards and recognitions. Since everyone who is involved with the Section is a volunteer, accolades are our only Bitcoin.

Salutes to Excellence is a program of the national ACS “that gives ACS members an opportunity to underscore outstanding accomplishments, achievements or service for individuals who have made a positive impact on everyday life.” In our local Section incarnation of Salutes to Excellence, we tend to read that positive impact as service to the Section. This year, three members were recognized. The following citations have been inscribed on their award plaques:

• In 2017, Jeramia Ory stepped into the role of editor for our Local Section newsletter, The Chemical Bond. His efforts have helped us continue to make our communication with Section members more efficient and impactful, adding immediate blog post capabilities to our site. Jeramia’s technical knowledge of WordPress and Mailchimp, and his commitment to an immense task that requires weekly (if not daily) attention, is greatly appreciated by the Section.
• Eric Ressner has been actively managing our Section’s website for many years. In 2012, he helped us transition to a new platform, and is always open to ways to make our communication with our membership more efficient and impactful. For many years, Eric has been the “voice” of the Section, with his witty comments and writing style making even mundane news seem exciting. Eric recently helped train a new Newsletter editor (Jeramia Ory, also being recognized) and has provided exceptional support and succession planning. The Section could truly not function without Eric’s support.
• Will Ridley has taken on the impressive and important task of organizing the Section’s Chemistry is pHun outreach program since being trained in 2015. This program has impressive reach during the academic year 2016–2017; Will presented the “States of Matter” program 21 times in 12 elementary schools to 926 second grade students. The program also presented a “Polymers are Marvelous Molecules” workshop as part of the Expanding Your Horizons Conference at the St Louis Community College–Florissant Valley. The program continues to grow and connect more local chemists with students to get them excited about chemistry!

The Outstanding Service Award is all us, with no prompting from national. It can be tough winnowing the deserving down to a single most deserving. This year, Eric Bruton, past Chair, moving force behind the Leadership Development Forum, and steadfastly “cain’t say no” guy when the Section asks, is the long overdue winner. All he got at Continuity Night was an announcement, not even a crummy t-shirt. But he will officially receive his due, and you can hear about all the things he didn’t say no to, at Recognition Night in the spring.