Plans Progress for National Chemistry Day

Abstract

Now only a month away, on Nov. 6, National Chemistry Day is an event whose time has almost come. Sponsored by the American Chemical Society, with activities carried out by 171 of the society's 182 local sections, it promises to be the most publicly visible program the society has ever undertaken. NCD, as it has become known around society headquarters, is the brainchild of ACS immediate pastpresident George C. Pimentel, who also is professor of chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. He proposed last year that ACS sponsor such an event aimed at communicating to the public the benefits of chemistry and responding to the public's apprehension about risks associated with chemistry and chemicals. The ACS Board appropriated $100,000 for 1987 for NCD activities, and the executive director created an NCD Office at society headquarters to coordinate activities (C&EN, June 29, page 44). Headed by Randall Wedin, the office has drawn on the resources ...