Ken Schlecht was born (4/4/44) and raised in the Syracuse, NY area. He earned his B.S. in Chemistry from LeMoyne College in 1966 and his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Iowa (Iowa City) under Clyde W. Frank in January of 1971. He joined the faculty at SUNY Brockport in September of 1970 and retired during the summer of 2007.He became active in the Rochester Section in early 1980; first attending a workshop on Chemical Demonstrations at the University of Wisconsin – Madison (run by Prof. Bassam Shakhashiri), then offering similar workshops to high school teachers in the Rochester area. He has also run several workshops on Hands-On Chemical Activities for members who wish to volunteer in primary and middle schools. He has served the Rochester Section as a Member-At-Large (twice), Alternate Councilor, and as Chair of the Section (in 1992). He has performed his “Excitement of Chemistry” show for the Section’s High School Recognition Night since 1987. Throughout his career he has exposed a total of approximately 60,000 people to various aspects of chemistry and science with his various shows. He received the Rochester Section Award in 1999, and served as editor of CHEMunications (the Rochester Section newsletter) from the summer of 1998 until the end of 2006. At the national level, he is currently a member of the ACS Admissions Committee.
In retirement he plans to 1) remain active professionally within the ACS and the Rochester Section, as well as continue to do Chemistry programs (shows) for various audiences – but mostly for pre-college students, 2) see his grandchildren, and 3) travel more.
Statement: I look forward to serving the Rochester Section again as Chair. Much has changed since I last did this: the Section is smaller, I am older (more experienced), and probably slower. But I can also devote a larger percentage of my time to the Section. I hope to increase the involvement of our members in Section activities, which of course means we will need to determine what is most important to our members. I hope I can do as much as recent officers have done. I look forward to your support and participation.
