The Public Affairs Award was established by the Public Affairs Committee of the Chicago Section of the American Chemical Society in 1982. The award was established to recognize individuals who were involved in science and public policy issues and who were residents of the EPA Region V during the time period for which he/she is being recognized. Abstract:     My speech will deal with how I see leadership, ethics and values changing and evolving in human, living organizations. My comments will refer to some of the lessons I have learned about leadership which recognizes the values of the building of community, relationships, and cultures of trust which validate the dignity of people. While my talk will not be about science, per se, as I am not a scientist, I will look at effective leadership in our fast changing global marketplace and in this age of new science. Speaker:     The Chicago Section ACS Public Affairs Awardee for 2001 is former congressman Rep. Harris Fawell (R, 13th District). Prior to his retirement in 1999, Mr. Fawell was a Member of the United States Congress for 14 years from 1985 to 1999. During that time he represented parts of DuPage, Will and Cook Counties in Illinois' 13th Congressional District. He served as a member of the Education and Workforce Committee and the Science Committee – Energy Subcommittee during those years. Mr. Fawell chaired the Employer-Employee Relations Subcommittee during the last four years with jurisdiction of labor, health and pensions issues, including the federal ERISA statute, the National Labor Relations Act, and other federal labor statutes. During the 104th and 105th sessions of Congress, Mr. Fawell was an active member of Speaker Gingrich's Ad Hoc Health Care Committee. Always a staunch supporter of ERISA health and pension plans, Mr. Fawell was the Chief Sponsor of legislation which would amend ERISA to allow small businesses and the self employed to join together in multiple employers health care plans, called "Association Health Plans", thus gaining the economies of scale and federal pre-emption from state law currently available to larger businesses. In the 105th Congress, this legislation passed the House as a part of the Republican health care reform bill but failed to pass the Senate. Mr. Farwell was noted for reaching out to the science and technology community, having had a science and technology advisory committee composed of scientists (some chemists, including a member of the Public Affairs Committee) and engineers from his district. His former district includes Argonne and Fermilab, as well BP-Amoco, Nalco, and Lucent, among other R&D establishments. Because he was unable to make the March 23 date we have changed the date of the meeting to Friday, March 16.

Date:  Friday, March 16, 2001 (Note, this is a week earlier than usual)