50-Year ACS Member: Ronald E. Bambury (2009)

Ron Bambury was born in Aberdeen, South Dakota but moved to Minneapolis as a child and later to the north suburbs. Here he completed his secondary education, graduating from Anoka high school in 1950. While still in grade school he expressed an interest in being a chemist at a large company and showed his other scientific bent by describing the details and uses of a binary number system to his classmates. To pursue his chemist dream he entered the Institute of Technology at the University of Minnesota for the five year program. He graduated with a Bachelor of Chemistry degree, and his senior project on nitro-olefins was the basis of his first publication.

Ron then entered the graduate program at the University of Nebraska, and received an M.S. in 1958 and a PhD in 1960 with a major in organic chemistry and minors in physiology and biochemistry. His thesis work on Tetralones, done under Prof. N.H.Cromwell resulted in five publications. He was elected to Sigma Xi and Phi Lambda Upsilon.

Employment during college included janitorial work as well as summer chemistry lab jobs at Russell Miller Milling and the Minnesota Water Department. His dream to be a large company chemist was realized in subsequent years, first at American Cyanamid Animal Health Division (1960-64) working on anthelmintics and antiprotozoal agents. He then worked at Merrell-National Labs, (1964-76) and Diamond Shamrock(1976-83) on antiprotozoals, antimicrobials, Beta Lactam antibiotics, and growth promotion agents. Ron's last employer was Bausch and Lomb in Rochester, Contact Lens Division(1984-97), working on synthesis and development of novel contact lens materials. He retired in 1987.

During his professional career Ron authored over 50 publications and patents, notable of the latter were 2 on antihelmintics and the siliconhydrogel polymer used in the manufacture of the Pure Vision(TM) contact lens. He also authored a chapter in "Burger's Medicinal Chemistry" on antimicrobial agents, and served as a referee for both the Journals of Medicinal Chemistry and Organic Chemistry. Ron's ACS activities included a stint as chairman of the local section in Wooster, OH. in 1970. He also served as chairman of the Sycamore School Planning Commission in Cincinnati and most recently as a field agent for the 2000 census.

While in his last year of college, Ron married Laura Ukasick, and they have children Cathy, Kevin, and Jennifer, six grandchildren, and one great grandchild. Over the years Ron's hobbies have been varied, including photography, camping, hiking, and biking along the Erie Canal. Taking much of his time currently is woodworking, with emphasis on designing and building furniture in the Arts and Crafts style. The many fine pieces of furniture in the Bambury home attest to Ron's skill in creating beauty from a few simple pieces of wood.

George A.Brown

50-Year ACS member: James K. Elwood (2009)

James K. Elwood was born in 1936 in Ladysmith, WI. His interest in science was kindled by a microscope set he received while in Fourth Grade. In those days it was a simple matter to order replacement chemicals by mail. After graduating as salutatorian from Ladysmith High School, he attended Wisconsin State College in Eau Claire, which is now a branch of the University of Wisconsin. He graduated magna cum laude in 1958 with majors in chemistry and mathematics. In the fall, he began his graduate work at Michigan State University in E. Lansing, MI., where, under the supervision of Robert Herbst, his thesis work involved the synthesis of tetrazole analogs of glutamic acid. This work was hampered by the discovery that tetrazoles, when treated with acetic anyhydride, rearrange to 1,3,2-oxadiazoles.

In September 1953 Jim began work at Kodak Research Labs in Jack Gates’ Emulsion Addenda Synthesis Laboratory. This work included the syntheses of antifoggants and developers along with the study of some Claisen rearrangements involving pyrazoles which led to a publication. A few years later he moved to Don Heseltine’s Sensitizing Dye Synthesis Laboratory. One of his initial projects involved the preparation of cyanine dyes containing the phenalene ring system in place of the polymethine chain. Two publications resulted from this interesting work. Another interesting project was the preparation of cationic cyanine dyes having lanthanide chelate counter anions.

Over the years, the original Sensitizing Dye Synthesis Laboratory underwent a number of changes in name, emphasis, and lab heads. As a result, Jim was able to work on a number of projects at various times, including nucleating agents, spectral sensitizing dyes for reversal systems as well as negative systems, conventional image dyes, and metallizable image dyes. A few more joint publications and about a dozen patents resulted.

Jim wrote a computer program to calculate the basicities of basic nuclei which correlated well with their measured basicities when expressed in energy terms.

He also conducted modeling studies on the structural features of sensitizing dyes with a view of reducing dye stain.

Jim has two sons, John and Christopher, with his former wife Donna, and one grandson, Keane. John is an associate professor of physics and current department head at E. Stroudberg University in Pennsylvania.

In retirement, Jim spends time gardening, playing the piano and pet-sitting for his sons.
When asked if he would do anything differently if he had the chance, he said: “Probably not, since my choices always followed my interests”.

50-Year ACS Member: Roy Orvis (2009)

Roy Orvis grew up in western Canada, but spent his entire career with the Kodak Research Labs. He was born in Calgary, but attended schools in Mirror, Alberta. He graduated with a B.Sc. in Honors Chemistry from the University of Alberta in Edmonton and continued there to get an M.Sc, under Prof. R. B. Sandin. He came to graduate school in the US, at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where he received a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry under the direction of Prof. E. E. VanTamelen.

Roy joined Eastman Kodak in 1964 in the Color Organic Chemistry Lab in the Color Photography Division directed by Ilmari Salminen. After 14 years doing synthesis of color photographic couplers, colored (masking) couplers, and nucleating agents there, he became a Staff Assistant in the division, a position he held until he retired in 1991 in the big Kodak buyout.

In retirement Roy manages an antique car collection that includes the first car that he owned, a 1953 Chevrolet, which he has restored. He is also interested in genealogy and has traveled widely with his wife Marina. They live in Greece and recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.

Roy and Marina have a son and daughter; the daughter, Carey and son-in-law Paul have two teen-age children, Roy and Marina’s two grandchildren. Carey works for a financial consulting firm and Paul is a banker here in the Rochester area. The son Mark lives in Rhode Island and is employed in the packaging field.

50-Year ACS Member: Arnold F. Schmeckenbecher (2009)

Arnold F. Schmeckenbecher was born in Allendorf/Lumda, Germany in February 1920. He graduated from the ‘Kreuzschule’ (School of the Cross), a humanistic ‘Gymnasium,’ in Dresden in 1940 where he studied English, Latin and ancient Greek. His father was a Lutheran pastor.

After two weeks of study at the Technical University in Dresden, he was drafted into the German Army in October 1940 , served from June 1941 in Russia and from April 1944 in Italy. He was taken prisoner by the U.S. Army near Siena (Tuscany) in June 1944, and shipped to a POW camp in Louisiana. He returned to Germany (American Occupation Zone) in November 1946 and was reunited with his parents and sister who had lost their home in the Dresden air raids.

Arnold Schmeckenbecher resumed his academic studies (chemistry) at the University of Heidelberg (Germany) in April 1947. Arnold’s father had given him a chemistry set when he was 12, perhaps in memory of his uncle, a chemistry student, who had volunteered in the German Army in World War I and was killed on the Russian front in 1915.

He graduated from Heidelberg with a degree ‘Dipl. Chem.’ in 1950, and pursued graduate study at the University of Kiel (Germany). He was awarded the degree ‘Dr. rer. nat.’ (magna cum laude) in July 1953. A summary of Schmeckenbecher’s research under Prof. Dr. Robert Juza was published in Naturwissenschaften (1955), ‘Magnetochemischer Nachweis von Chlorgraphit.’ He then served as a ‘Postdoc’ at Kiel with a stipend from the ‘Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft’ from August 1953 – October 1954.

Dr. Schmeckenbecher’s entire industrial career was with American firms. From January 1955 to October 1958, he performed research at General Aniline & Film (GAF) in Linden, NJ on the decomposition of metal carbonyls, e.g. ‘Carbonyl Iron’ particles used in ‘low loss cores’ of early television induction coils. He then worked with Remington Rand Univac in Philadelphia from October 1958 to July 1960 doing research on magnetic NiFe computer memories.

The bulk of Arnold Schemeckenbecher’s career was with IBM from July 1960 until his retirement in April 1989 at Poughkeepsie, NY focusing on packaging and cooling of silicon chips for mainframe computers, elecroless nickel-iron alloy plating and many other projects. He was promoted to ‘Senior Chemist’ in April 1969, was awarded 23 U.S. patents and published several peer reviewed papers. He was the recipient of the IBM Award for ‘Outstanding Technical Achievement’ and of twelve IBM awards for creative contributions to IBM progress.

Dr. Schmeckenbecher has been married (happily !) to Rose, nee Zettler, since August 1953. Rose obtained a BS degree in Behavioral Science from Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY at the age of 65 ! In 1996, the Schmeckenbechers moved to a retirement community in Metropolitan Rochester to be closer to their daughter and four grandchildren. Their daughter, Eva, obtained a BS degree in Biochemistry from Union College (1977) in Schenectady, NY. Arnold and Rose are proud of the accomplishments of their grandchildren: the two oldest recently graduated from Medical School and are now in internship and residency; the third obtained a BS degree in accounting from Roberts Wesleyan College and is working with a Rochester accounting firm; and, the youngest, just started (2008) at SUNY/Brockport.

Arnold Schmeckenbecher’s hobbies include: gardening, hiking (as long as the legs cooperate) and learning how to play the piano.

Max M. Boudakian

Fall 2009 ACS National Meeting Report

The Council of the American Chemical Society convened in Washington, DC on Wednesday, August 19, 2009. As your Councilor, I want to give you the highlights from that meeting as it deals with Council business.

The following summary is provided to help Councilors report to their local sections and divisions on key actions and discussions of the ACS Council and Board of Directors at the 2009 fall national meeting.

ACTIONS OF THE COUNCIL

Election Results

• The Committee on Nominations and Elections presented to the Council the following slate of candidates for membership on the Committee on Committees beginning in 2010: G. Bryan Balazs, Dawn A. Brooks, Victoria L. Finkenstadt, Wayne E. Jones, Jr., John M. Long, Les W. McQuire, Ingrid Montes, Douglas J. Raber, Frankie K. Wood-Black, and Steven W. Yates. By electronic ballot, the Council elected G. Bryan Balazs, Dawn A. Brooks, Les W. McQuire, Ingrid Montes, and Frankie K. Wood-Black for the 2010-2012 term.

• The Committee on Nominations and Elections presented to the Council the following slate of candidates for membership on the Council Policy Committee beginning in 2010: R. Gerald Bass, Alan B. Cooper, M. Elizabeth Derrick, Thomas R. Gilbert, Lydia E. M. Hines, Willem R. Leenstra, Sally B. Peters, and Carolyn Ribes. By electronic ballot, the Council elected M. Elizabeth Derrick, Thomas R. Gilbert, Willem R. Leenstra, and Carolyn Ribes for the 2010-2012 term.

• The Council Policy Committee presented to the Council the following slate of candidates for membership on the Committee on Nominations and Elections: Roger F. Bartholomew, Dwight W. Chasar, Milagros Delgado, Kevin J. Edgar, John W. Finley, Martin L. Gorbaty, Sharon P. Shoemaker, Walter O. Siegl, Herbert B. Silber, and Ellen B. Stechel. By electronic ballot, the Council elected Dwight W. Chasar, Milagros Delgado, Kevin J. Edgar, Sharon P. Shoemaker, and Ellen B. Stechel for the 2010-2012 term.

Candidates for President-Elect and Board of Directors

The candidates for the fall 2009 ACS national election were announced as follows:

President-Elect 2010:

• Nancy B. Jackson, International Chemical Threat Reduction Department
  Manager, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM
• Cheryl A. Martin, Currently on sabbatical; former Corporate Vice President and General Manager, Rohm and Haas Company, Philadelphia, PA
• Mary Virginia Orna, Professor of Chemistry, College of New Rochelle, New Rochelle, NY (Petition candidate)
  

Directors-at-Large - 2010-2012:

• Dennis Chamot, Associate Executive Director, Division of Engineering and Physical Sciences, National Research Council, Washington, DC
• H. N. Cheng, Research Chemist, US Department of Agriculture, New Orleans, LA
• Ray A. Dickie, Retired, Ford Motor Company, Efland, NC
• Valerie J. Kuck, Retired, Lucent Technologies, Montclair, NJ
• Howard M. Peters, Retired, Peters, Verny, LLP, Palo Alto, CA
  

Director, District I - 2010-2012:

• D. Richard Cobb, Senior Research Technician, Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, NY
• Neil D. Jespersen, Professor of Chemistry, St. Johns University, Jamaica, NY
  

Director, District V - 2010-2012:

• Judith L. Benham, Retired, 3M Company, St. Paul, MN
• Peter K. Dorhout, Vice Provost, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
  

Petitions (For Action)

• The Council received two amendments to the ACS Constitution and Bylaws for action: The Petition on Candidate Selection by Member Petition – (to be considered for Urgent Action) and the Petition on Election Timelines and Procedures 2009.
• The Petition on Candidate Selection by Member Petition proposes to permit candidates to be selected by a petition process from members. To be considered for urgent action, the petition required a ¾ affirmative vote. After considerable discussion, a vote to consider the petition at the 2009 fall meeting FAILED. Absent urgent action, the Petition on Candidate Selection by Member Petition will now be up for action at the 2010 spring meeting of the Council.
  

o Next, the Council discussed in great detail the Petition on Election Timelines and Procedures 2009. This petition proposes to shorten certain election timelines and change petition candidates (who go straight on the ballot if they obtain enough signatures) to petition nominees (who need to be screened by Council along with other nominees chosen by the Committee on Nominations and Elections). After rejecting a request to have a recorded vote, the Council VOTED to recommit the petition to the Committee on Nominations and Elections with instructions. Following this action, N&E sought input through a nonbinding survey to help guide their revisions. A revised petition will likely be up for action at the 2010 spring Council meeting.

(For Consideration)

• The Council received one petition for consideration: the Petition on Admissions Committee. This petition removes the Admissions Committee from the Bylaws and transfers its functions to the Council Committee on Membership Affairs. Action is expected on the petition at the 2010 spring meeting.

Committee Review

• As part of a regular performance review, the Council VOTED to continue the Committees on Chemical Safety, Minority Affairs, Chemical Abstracts Service, Technician Affairs, and Analytical Reagents. Continuing the first three committees requires Board of Directors concurrence.

Registration Report and 2010 National Meeting Registration Fee

• As of August 19, 2009, the ACS fall national meeting had attracted 14,319 registrants. This was the largest Washington meeting in history. Totals in select categories are as follows: Regular attendees 8,575; Students 3,159; Guests 462; Exhibit Only 676; and Exhibitors 1,447. In keeping with the objective of the National Meeting Long Range Financial Plan, previously approved by the Board of Directors and Council, the Meetings and Expositions Committee recommended to the Board an increase of $10 for the 2010 national meeting registration fee. The Board will act on this recommendation shortly.

Membership Activity

• The provisions of the Petition on Membership Categories and Requirements were fully implemented this past June with the transfer of former Student Affiliates to Student Member status, and Associate Members to regular Member status. As of July 31, the Society had 9,732 Student Members – 6,500 of them former Student Affiliates and more than 3,000 of them new Student Members.

Dissolution of the Division of Chemical Technicians

• At the 2009 spring Council meeting, the Divisional Activities Committee (DAC) reported that it had voted to accept a recommendation from the Division of Chemical Technicians (TECH) that the division disband and to recommend this action to Council in the fall. On recommendation of DAC, as recommended by TECH, the Council VOTED to disband the Division of Chemical Technicians effective December 31, 2009. DAC agreed that TECH has accomplished its mission of enhancing the status of technicians in the American Chemical Society, and now they are integrated into the other technical divisions.

Changes to Charter Bylaws for New Local Sections and International Chemical Sciences Chapters and Bylaws for Divisions in Probationary Status

• The Council VOTED to accept changes to charter bylaws for new local sections and international chemical sciences chapters, and bylaws for divisions in probationary status. These changes, which were developed in cooperation with the Committees on Divisional Activities, Local Section Activities, and International Activities, are a result of changes to the Constitution and Bylaws made as a result of the Petition on Membership Categories and Requirements, which became effective on June 30.








ACTIONS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Board Committees and Task Force Actions

• The Board of Directors VOTED to approve nominees for the 2010 Perkin Medal and the Alan T. Waterman Award. The Perkin Medal, awarded by the American section of the Society of Chemical Industry to a scientist residing in the US, recognizes innovation in applied chemistry resulting in outstanding commercial development. The Alan T. Waterman Award, presented by the National Science Foundation, recognizes an outstanding young researcher in any field of science or engineering.

• The Committee on Public Affairs and Public Relations announced the designation of “Dip-and-read Tests for Blood and Urine Glucose” (work of Al and Helen Free) as a National Historic Chemical Landmark. The committee also reported on its approval of a new healthcare policy statement, received from the Committee on Economic and Professional Affairs.

• The Board VOTED to approve an action recommended by the Committee on Professional & Member Relations to accept with minor revisions the key terms contained in a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between ACS and the Royal Society of Chemistry. The MOU: a) offers an opportunity for the ACS and RSC to develop and distribute a “primer,” both in hard-copy and electronic format, to provide the wider population with a basic understanding of the chemistry underlying issues related to sustainability; b) provides a series of joint seminars in the UK, US and elsewhere with participation by scientists, media and decision-makers to focus on sustainability; and c) supports collaboration on activities that train scientists to address issues relating to sustainability and other global challenges in non-technical, readily understandable communications.

• On the recommendation of the Committee on Budget and Finance, the Board VOTED to fund a new program (Science Coaches) and to reauthorize an existing program (ACS Green Chemistry Institute ®) in the 2010 budget.

• The Board of Directors received a report from the Board–Presidential Task Force on Education This task force is charged with 1) reviewing recommendations contained in national STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education reports released during the past five years; 2) identifying specific actions that the Society could undertake in response to these recommendations; and 3) creating a priority list of actionable items where the Society can have a unique impact on STEM education. The new Science Coaches initiative was one of the task force’s recommendations.

The Society’s Finances

• In view of the ongoing global recession and its impact of the Society’s finances, the Board received an update on the Society’s current financial position and the projected financial performance for 2009. The Society is projected to end the year with a net contribution from operations of $11.2 million, or $528,000 favorable to the 2009 approved budget. The favorable projection is largely the result of Contingency Plan actions and expense management initiatives implemented in early 2009, which are expected to fully offset revenue shortfalls in the Approved Budget across several categories.

Strategic Issues

• At its retreat held earlier this year, the Board developed a “dashboard,” i.e. a list of possible Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) related to ACS strategic progress. At this meeting, a Board task force presented a draft dashboard for review. The Board agreed to continue this discussion at its December meeting.
The Executive Director/CEO Report

• The Executive Director/CEO, along with several of her direct reports, updated the Board on the activities of the Publications Division, Chemical Abstracts Service, and the Society’s General Counsel (including the Leadscope litigation). As a part of the Publications report, the Board VOTED to approve the re-appointment of three journal editors.

Compensation of Society Executive Staff

• The Board received a report from its Committee on Executive Compensation and voted to approve several actions relative to compensation for the Society’s Executive staff. The compensation of the Society’s executive staff receives regular review from the Board.

Other Society Issues

• The Board received a briefing from its Chair on her recent meeting with International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) leaders and plans for the International Year of Chemistry-2011 (IYOC-2011). The Board also was briefed by International leaders from the European Association for Chemical and Molecular Sciences (EuCheMS), the German Chemical Society, the Korean Chemical Society, the Mexican Chemical Society, the Royal Society of Chemistry, and the Serbian Chemical Society on their strategic directions and on their plans for IYOC-2011.

• With the creation of the ACS Leadership Development System, the Society is now better positioned to create the skilled leadership needed to advance as the world’s largest scientific society and to achieve its mission. In recognition of this achievement, the Board awarded plaques to its Oversight Group on Leadership Development for outstanding work on this major initiative.

The Board received a briefing on a new program to equip ACS members to be more effective spokespersons for chemistry. It is called the Chemistry Ambassadors program, and information may be found at www.acs.org/chemistryambassadors

IMPORTANT NEWS: At the Washington National Meeting, the Rochester Section received a ChemLuminary Award for “The Most Innovative New Activity or Program in a Local Section in 2008”.

Please remember that as Councilor, I am your voice on the national level. Feel free to contact me at 477-4903, email me at d.richard.cobb@kodak.com

or write me at:

D. Richard Cobb
15-C Greenleaf Meadows, Rochester, NY 14612.


Thank you!