| Volume 61, Number 1 | January, 2010 |
| Volume 61, Number 1 | January, 2010 |
Past Chair Looks Back
New Chair Looks Forward
Continuity Night in wds & pics
Who You Gonna Call? Officers 2010
Science Fair Judging Opportunities Feb–May
Meetings and Seminars
Need Event Reminders?
About the Chemical Bond
American Polymer Standards, Inc.
Chemir Analytical Services
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micron inc.
MV Products
Sigma-Aldrich Corp.
Bill Doub, 2009 Chair, Looks Back
As we come to the end of the year, it is time to pause and look back. As I began my year as Chair last January, I was somewhat apprehensive that I might somehow let the Section down. As I soon discovered, we have too many hardworking, dedicated people involved in Section activities for that to ever happen. Too many to thank them all but allow me to express my heartfelt gratitude to those closest to me during my tenure as Section Chair. First and foremost, I would like to thank the steering committee of Shelley, Keith, Pat, Lisa and Jeff for keeping me on course and on time. I would also like to thank our Councilors, Alexa, Donna, Lol and Lisa. Thanks as well to our Fundraising Committee, Keith, Ted, Alexa and Ben. Although we have received only one donation (Sigma) for 10 requests, three of those requests were made within the last month so they may still bear fruit.
The Section carried out too many activities to list them all, so I will just brush the highlights. As always, we presented awards to well qualified professional chemists and technicians as well as college and high school students (special thanks to Hal Harris for a very stimulation talk at Awards Night). This year we also added students from Greenville College (IL) to the college student awardees. The Mass Spec topical group had a spectacular year, hosting 22 meetings with as many as 120 attendees. Close to my heart as one who spent many years developing HPLC and GC methods was the revitalization of the Chromatography topical group, thanks in no small part to members of the YCC. This year’s high school student career day drew 275 students—special thanks goes to the UMSL Chemistry and Biochemistry Department for financial support and for assistance from their undergraduate and graduate students. In June, Keith managed to organize a Section picnic without rain! We supported two Boy Scout Merit Badge Clinics this year, hosting 47 scouts at Jost Chemical and 63 scouts at SIUE. Two career event were held in November. The first, hosted by Sigma Chemical at their research facility, drew more than 70 participants to hear five distinguished speakers. A special lecture on patent law was presented by Jan Hendrickson, PhD, JD, in the Gast Conference Room at Washington University—thanks to Ted for making the arrangements and also providing refreshments for the event. Probably the most rewarding experience I had this year was reading the letters of appreciation from many of the 50-year members (10) and 60-year members (9).
We made a few changes this year. The cost of Board diners was reduced by 50% for those who are unemployed, for students, and for postdocs. Somewhat extensive changes made to the Bylaws were approved at a General Meeting held in conjunction with Recognition Night. Last, but by no means least, the Chemical Bond in which you read this is the first of the electronic-only issues.
Finally, advice for my successor, Shelley Minteer: use your Councilors as counselors.
Message from 2010 Chair, Shelley Minteer
Well, it is amazing how fast a year as chair-elect goes by. It seems like only yesterday I was planning my first Steering Committee meeting. It is now mid-December and I am sitting here thinking about the year ahead. The last couple of years have been exciting for the St Louis Section, and I am looking forward to another exciting year. For those of you who haven’t heard the exciting news, the Midwest Regional ACS Meeting will be in St Louis in the Fall of 2011, so a lot of planning will be going on this year to ensure we have a meeting that is as successful as when we last hosted the meeting in 2000. It is interesting to note that my first experience with the St Louis section was at that Midwest Meeting. I had just arrived in St Louis the month before, and I attended in hopes of meeting people and, of course, I did, because the St Louis Section has been and, I hope, always will be, a very friendly section.
If you have never attended a St Louis Section event, I encourage you to do so in 2010. We have a wide variety of events from General Topics lectures (we are planning a general topics lecture in April on the Chemistry of Birds) to Discussion Groups in specific interest areas (High School Teachers Discussion Group, NMR Discussion Group to name two) to Science Center events (National Chemistry Week in October) to Younger Chemist Committee programs and panels for our members and the general public. If you have attended St Louis Section events in the past, I also encourage you to get more involved. The great programming that we do would not be possible without the dedicated volunteers who organize, fund raise, and plan these events. Check out the website at www.stlacs.org for a list of upcoming activities and contact information for organizers. The website also has a link to get email notifications about the activities. We look forward to seeing new faces in 2010.
I encourage you to contact me if you have any questions about the section or any ideas for activities or ways to improve. I hope it is an exciting year and I look forward to working with all of you dedicated and committed ACS members.
Happy New Year!!!
Shelley Minteer
Continuity Dinner
These members grabbed seats at the table in front of the fireplace. Alas, no fire.
The 2009 Continuity Dinner was held on a mild but rainy December 10 at Glen Echo Country Club. The room was festively decorated and set with six round tables instead of the more businesslike arrangement typical of board meetings—one big rectangle. A total of 29 members signed the log book, including four from the Younger Chemists Committee and three for whom this was their first Section event.
In addition to the usual agenda for Board meetings, the Continuity Dinner features three special items:
In a gesture generally agreed to be long overdue, Bill Doub announced that Keith Stine will be the Distinguished Service Awardee. The award will be conferred officially at Recognition Night in March.
The traditional passing of the book and the gavel from outgoing to incoming chair. Bill looks like he can’t quite let the book go, but Shelley has the gavel and knows how to use it. It ended non-violently.
And after much shuffling and misdirection, Lol Barton rose to deliver the Henry Godt Memorial Lecture. He began with a remembrance and paean to Henry—including a slide showing Henry on the cover of the January, 1968, Chemical Bond—and concluded with a rundown of the most successful and significant Section events of 2009, and the people responsible for them. You can read a transcript of Lol’s talk here.
Lol Barton was the secret Henry Godt Memorial Lecturer
Who You Gonna Call? Officers, 2010Do you have a question about a specific section activity? Want to get involved, and you know where your niche is? Have an issue or suggestion about section governance, policies, activities? Here are the people in charge for 2010. Get in touch. These people and all of the subcommittee members are listed on our Officers page with contact information one click away.
| Elected officers | |
| Chair | Shelley Minteer |
| Chair-Elect | Jeff Cornelius |
| Immediate past chair | William F Doub |
| Secretary | Pat Burrell-Standley |
| Treasurer | Ted Gast |
| Directors | 2009-2010: Hal Harris, Bruce Ritts, Steve Kinsley 2010-2011: Samir El-Antably, Eric Ressner, Sue Dudek |
| Councilors | 2008-2010: Lawrence Barton 2009-2011: Donna Friedman 2010-2012: Lisa Balbes, Alexa Serfis |
| Alternate Councilors | 2008-2010: Thomas Layloff, Chris Spilling 2010-2012: Ben Outlaw |
| Committee chairs | |
| Awards | Marcel Madaras |
| Education | Ziad Ramadan |
| Investment | Hal Harris |
| Professional Activities | Brent Znosko |
| Program | Dana Baum |
| Publicity and Public Relations | Gopal Paul |
| Special Event chairs | |
| Chemical Press Week | Leah O’Brien |
| National Chemistry Week | Greg Wall |
| Banquet Coordinator | Samir El-Antably |
It’s Science Fair Season: Judges Needed
Your participation as a judge would be greatly appreciated!
St Louis Section–ACS Board of Directors meets the second Thursday of each month, usually at the Glen Echo Country Club (
map). Meetings are open to all members, and all are encouraged to attend. Elected officers and chairs of major committees vote on questions put to the Board; others in attendance have voice but no vote.
If you want to attend for dinner, please contact Bill Doub (william.doub@fda.hhs.gov or 314.651.7514) at least a week in advance. Usual cost of the dinner is $20. Members wishing to become active in section activities are welcomed for their first dinner as guests of the section.
Date: Jan 7 (note special date: the first Thursday this month!)
Social hour: 5:30 pm
Dinner and officers’ reports: 6:30 pm
Business meeting: 7:15 pm
Future Meetings: Feb 11, Mar 11
Seminars start at 4 pm in Room 12 Monsanto Hall, except as noted. For more information, contact the Chemistry Department, 314-977-2850.
No seminars are listed for January.
Fridays at 4 pm in 451 Benton Hall, unless otherwise specified. Refreshments 15 minutes prior to seminar time. For more information, contact the Chemistry Department, 314.516.5311.
No seminars are listed for January.
Seminars are in McMillen 311 at 4 pm unless otherwise noted. For information, contact Lev Gelb, gelb@wustl.edu.
No seminars are listed for January.
Need event reminders?
Would you like an email reminder of upcoming ACS events and activities? Join the ACS reminders listserv. Email Alexa Serfis at barnoski@slu.edu and ask to be put on the list. You can also add or remove yourself at the website, stlacs.org, and click on Event reminders—subscribe or Event reminders—unsubscribe. Subscription comes with a money-back no-spam guarantee.
About the Chemical BondThe Chemical Bond is published at www.stlacs.org January through May and September through December by the St Louis Section–American Chemical Society. If you would like to receive email notification when each issue is posted, you can subscribe at www.stlacs.org/mailman/listinfo/bond.remind. You can also follow the link to “Manage bond.remind options” from the home page at www.stlacs.org
| Editor | Eric Ressner | 314.962.6415 editor@stlacs.org |
| Asst Editor/Advertising Mgr | Sue Saum | 314.513.4808 ssaum@stlcc.edu |
| Business Mgr | Donna Friedman | 314.513.4388 dfriedman@stlcc.edu |
Correspondence, letters to the editor, etc., should be emailed to editor@stlacs.org
or mailed ℅ St Louis Section–ACS, PO Box 220291, Saint Louis, MO 63122-0291
Copyright © 2010 American Chemical Society and the St Louis Section–ACS