ACS creates new award for public service

Abstract

The American Chemical Society Board of Directors has established a new award to recognize outstanding contributions to public service or to the development of public policy that benefit the chemical sciences. The board unanimously approved establishment of the award at its fourth and final meeting of the year, held on Dec. 8 in Washington, D.C. The brainchild of ACS President Ronald Breslow, the American Chemical Society Award for Public Service will consist of an appropriate scroll or plaque and will be presented at the board's discretion. Breslow has long believed that the society should honor individuals who are not necessarily chemists or scientists but who have advanced the cause of the chemical enterprise. Such individuals, Breslow says, might include members of Congress and other public policy makers who maintain government support for chemistry in the face of budget cutting, or industry leaders who communicate how important chemistry is to the nation's economic future. I think it's terribly impor...