Visions, Achievements, and Challenges of the Division of Chemical Education during the Early Years

Abstract

The first decade of the American Chemical Society Division of Chemical Education (DIVCHED) was most extraordinary. It began in 1924 with grand visions, plans, and accomplishments, and ended in the Depression. The period was dominated by two figures, Neil Gordon, founding editor of the Journal of Chemical Education, and Francis Garvan, the United States Alien Property Custodian who, through the Chemical Foundation, poured money into chemical education for his own purposes. At Garvan's urging, DIVCHED also published a journal for high school teachers, The Chemistry Leaflet, edited by Pauline Beery Mack, later famous for advising NASA on bone density loss in space travel. The Chemistry Leaflet later appeared as the ACS educational magazine, Chemistry. Woven into the paper are three continuing concerns of the DIVCHED: sustained service to the high school teacher, participation of university and industrial leaders in DIVCHED, and women in chemical education.