YCC Hosts 3rd Annual Career Night

The third annual Chemistry Career Night convened in the Lab Science Building at Washington University on September 15. Organized by the Younger Chemists Committee of the St Louis ACS Section, the event featured four distinguished speakers from industry and academia. The speakers addressed career topics and perspectives of particular interest to younger chemists, including undergraduates, graduate students, academics, and those early in their industrial careers.

Before the presentations, there was time for attendees and speakers to network and enjoy light refreshments. The main event began with an introduction to the ACS local section by Keith Stine (YCC advisor), followed by YCC Chair Eric Bruton. Eric spoke about the YCC, welcomed the audience of about 70 attendees, and introduced the YCC officers and members who coordinated the event.

The guest speakers of the evening were

• William Abraham, director at Monsanto
• David Berberich, director of R & D at Covidien
• Courtney Starks, principal scientist at Sequoia Sciences
• Garland Marshall, professor at Washington University Medical School

Each speaker shared some career experiences and talked about the industries s/he has worked in. They also offered career advice seasoned by their respective backgrounds. After the talks, the speakers formed a panel to answer questions from the audience for about 15 minutes.

Following the formal program, everyone moved back to the spacious Rettner Gallery for dinner and another opportunity to network. Many took advantage of the opportunity to talk with the speakers and with each other.

The event was supported financially by the St Louis Section–ACS. Saint Louis University provided printing of the program booklets and signs. Washington University graciously provided the meeting space and facilities.

Report from National Chemistry Week

Kids and Chemistry coordinator Sheryl Loux has reported from the Saint Louis Science Center, where Kids and Chemistry helped celebrate National Chemistry Week. About 700 people were served on Saturday, October 23, 2010. Sheryl led the “Enzymes aid digestion and cleaning” activity. Chris Glass played Sherlock “Starch Scavenger Hunt” Holmes. And Don Sartor directed the demolition derby, “Air Molecules Crushing Cans”. Volunteers Zannette Robinson and Greg Wall helped with crowd control and participant processing.

Come to the Continuity Dinner

Every December, the St Louis Section holds a fancier than usual board meeting to celebrate the year’s achievements, recognize certain members, announce the Distinguished Service Award (conferred in March), and pass the gavel to the new slate of section officers. There is also the Henry Godt Memorial Lecture, recapping the past year, which is given by a surprise speaker.

At the top of the agenda this year, there will also be a brief General Meeting of the Section to vote on amendments to the Section Bylaws. The amendments are intended to (a) bring the objects of the Section in conformity with those of the Society and the Section’s Articles of Incorporation, (b) modify eligibility requirements for recipients of the Midwest Award, (c) modify dates and procedures to conform with current practice, and (d) clarify language.

The amendments will be considered en bloc. A 2⁄3 majority vote of the members present and voting is required for adoption. The Bylaws with proposed changes marked up are posted on the website. Please review prior to the meeting, so you are prepared to cast an informed vote.

Please join us: Thursday, December 9, 2010
Glen Echo Country Club, 3401 Lucas and Hunt Rd, St. Louis, MO 63121
5:30 pm social hour with open bar (beer, wine, soft drinks)
6:30 pm dinner and meeting

Reservations required by December 1st to:

Dr. Shelley Minteer
Department of Chemistry
Saint Louis University
3501 Laclede Ave
St Louis, MO 63103
phone: (314) 977-3624

Make checks payable to St. Louis Section–ACS
Name(s) _______________________________________________________
Number attending _____ × $35 each = amount remitted $____________
Choice of entrée (number of each): fish _____ or steak _____

Hal Harris to speak on irrationality

We have our illiteracy (can’t read/write) and our innumeracy (can’t count/compute). What should we call our “can’t think logically”? Dysscientia? Unscientificalityness? Asciancy? Our own Hal Harris will be speaking in the St Louis Academy of Science Science Café series on Irrational Scientific Ideas. You can be sure his talk will be the epitome of rationality.

Be there November 3, 7:30–9 pm, at the St Louis Zoo (River Camp). The event is free including free parking at the zoo’s south lot. Water, lemonade, and coffee will be available. For information about the entire lineup of Academy of Science seminars, including more details about Hal’s talk, see here.

Board of Directors

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 Shelley Minteer, phone 314-977-3624 or email minteers@slu.edu at least a week in advance. Usual cost of the dinner is $24 ($12 for post-docs and unemployed members). Members wishing to become active in section activities are welcomed for their first dinner as guests of the section.

Date: Nov 11
Social hour: 5:30 pm
Dinner: 6:30 pm
Business meeting: 7:15 pm

Next month: Dec 9 Continuity Dinner (see here for reservation and details about the agenda). There will be a General Meeting of the Section in conjunction with the Continuity Dinner, for the purpose of voting on proposed bylaw amendments. All St Louis Section–ACS members are eligible to vote on issues at the General Meeting, and a quorum’s worth of attendance is important, so please come and lend your voice.

Saint Louis University

Seminars are on Fridays at 12 noon in Carlo Auditorium, Tegeler Hall, unless noted otherwise. Refreshments follow. For more information, contact Dana Baum, dbaum1@slu.edu.

Nov 5
Nils Walter
University of Michigan
Scientists Watching Action Movies: Single Molecule Enzymology of Natural and Engineered RNA (DNA, Protein) Nanomachines

Nov 12
Mark Schell
Southern Methodist University
Inhibiting Anions Transformed into a Sequence that Enhances Reactions

University of Missouri–St Louis

Mondays 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.

Nov 1
Luigi Panza
Università del Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy
The glycolipid game in the immune system

Nov 8
Peter Wolczanski
Cornell University
Azaallyl Ligands: Ancillary and Not-So Innocent

Nov 15
Shubhra Gangopadhyay
University of Missouri–Columbia
Applications of Nanostructured Materials for Chemical and Biological Sensing

Nov 29
Robert Blankenship
Washington University
Photosynthetic Antenna Systems: Where Light Interfaces With Biology

Washington University

Seminars are in McMillen 311 at 4 pm unless otherwise noted. For information, contact: Liviu Mirica, mirica@wustl.edu.

Nov 4
André Sanov
University of Arizona
Photoelectron Imaging of Exotic Ions, Radicals and Intermediates: Insight into Bonding and Reactivity

Nov 9
Manfred Reetz
Max Planck Institute
Laboratory Evolution of Stereoselective Enzymes: A Prolific Source of Catalysts for Asymmetric Reactions

Nov 11
Gary Brudvig
Yale University
Water Oxidation Chemistry of Photosystem II and Artificial Systems

Nov 18
Thomas Pettus
University of California, Santa Barbara
Inhibition of Telomerase with Small Molecules: Efficient Total Syntheses of β and γ Rubromycin

About the Chemical Bond

The 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 to the bond.remind listserv. You can also follow the link to “Manage bond.remind options” from the home page at www.stlacs.org.

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Editor	Eric Ressner	314.962.6415 editor@stlacs.org
Assistant Editor & Advertising Manager	Sue Saum	314.513.4808 ssaum@stlcc.edu
Business Manager	Donna Friedman	314.513.4388 dfriedman@stlcc.edu