The 227^th National Meeting of the ACS was held in Anaheim, CA from March 28 – April 1, 2004.  The Chicago section was fully represented by 14 councilors.  The councilors who attended for the Section were: Allison Aldridge, Roy H. Bible Jr., Cherlyn Bradley, Charles E. Cannon, David S. Crumrine, Nathaniel L. Gilham, Russell W. Johnson, Fran K. Kravitz, Thomas J. Kucera, Claude A. Lucchesi, Barbara E. Moriarty, Seymour H. Patinkin, Marsha Anne Phillips, and Stephen Sichak.  Jim Shoffner was also present at the meeting.

Election Results:  The council selected F. Sherwood Rowland and Isiah M. Warner as candidates for President-Elect, 2005.  In addition, a petition candidate, E. Ann Nalley, has been certified and will also run for the office.

Budget:  ACS operations ended 2003 with a net deficit of $64,000. However, the financial performance was $811,000 favorable to the approved budget.  Because of the performance, including investment gains, the ACS ended 2003 with an increase in the unrestricted net assets to $161 million.  These results were better than expected due to the strong performance of the Publication Division.

The council voted to increase dues for 2005 to $123.00, the fully escalated amount.  This does not include the temporary increases due to changing the way dues gets distributed to Local Sections and Divisions.  The overall financial health of the Society will continue to be monitored to determine if decreasing this temporary measure is possible.

Education:  In 2005 there will be programs at the national meetings on Forensic Science, the NRC report on the Environment, and Graduate Education to meet Employer’s Needs.

Local Section Affairs:  The theme of the 2004 National Chemistry Week celebration, to be held October 17 – 23, 2004, is “Health and Wellness”.   The topic for the 2005 NCW celebration will be "Celebrating Chemistry in the Home" and will focus on materials used to keep our homes warm, safe and sturdy.

Divisional Activities:  The council voted to dissolve the probationary Division of Laboratory Automation, as of June 30, 2004.

Membership Affairs:  As of 12/31/03, the Society’s membership was 159,332, representing a decline of 1% in overall membership.  However, the number of student members increased by 3.7% and the number of unpaid members decreased by nearly 17%.  Furthermore, the number of members who are recent graduates increased by 50%.  A petition to amend the bylaws to change the membership requirements for pre-college educators was presented for consideration.

Meetings and Expositions:  Attendance at this meeting was reported to be 14,141 people, including 7,595 regular meeting attendees, 2278 exhibitors, 3801 students and 467 guests.  The committee continues to monitor the number of meeting attendees who reserve their hotel rooms outside of the ACS housing block.  This “attrition” may have a negative impact on ACS governance and social activities because hotels make available meeting space, based on the number of conference attendees.

Economic and Professional Affairs:  As of the end of Tuesday, there were 1281 job seekers at the National Employment Clearinghouse (NECH); there were 121 employers with 271 posted positions available.  The number of interviews conducted in Anaheim, as of the end of Tuesday, was 1579.  An updated edition of the Professional Employment Guidelines (PEG) was presented to Council for consideration.

Constitution and Bylaws:  The bylaws of the Chicago Section have been reviewed and have received preliminary approval.  Three petitions were presented to council for consideration: 1) a petition for electronic balloting, 2) a petition to change the annual report deadline for divisions and 3) a petition to change the membership requirements for pre-college teachers.

ACS/AIChE Partnership:  A major discussion item at the 227^th ACS National meeting was the status of efforts underway to determine if a partnership should be formalized between ACS and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).   Discussions indicated that this would not be a merger or acquisition, but rather a three-part alliance.  The two organizations would remain separate, but work together to better serve the chemical enterprise.  The two organizations are currently pursuing a programmatic alliance, where joint technical meetings, advisory committees and institutes would be pursued.  A potential membership alliance would be the second step.  This may result in joint memberships.   Finally, an operational alliance, where some staff functions are joint may also be considered.

These discussions result from the recent financial challenges experienced by AIChE.  AIChE was founded in 1908 and currently has ~ 45,000 members in 108 local sections with 18 technical divisions and forums.  The dues for AIChE for 2004 are $199.  There are ~ 8000 members that are members of both ACS and AIChE.  The discussion at the council meeting showed strong support to continue forward with these discussions.

If you have any questions and/or comments about the above actions, please contact me by email (bmoriarty@nalco.com) or one of the other councilors.