http://www.nesacs.org

November 2015 Vol. XCIV, No. 3

NORTHEASTERN SECTION • AMERICAN CHEMIC

ALSO

CIET

Y

FOUNDED 1898

NESACS

Monthly MeetingJames Flack Norris Award and Arno Heyn MemorialBook Prize at Holiday Inn Boston-Brookline

Report from Boston:ACS National MeetingBy Morton Z. Hoffman

Henry HillBy Arthur S. Obermayer

The Nucleus is GoingGreenDecember 1, 2015 Deadline to Opt-in for a MailedHard Copy

2 The Nucleus November 2015

The Nucleus November 2015 3

The Nucleus is published monthly, except June and August, by the Northeastern Section of the AmericanChemical Society, Inc. Forms close for advertising on the 1st of the month of the preceding issue. Textmust be received by the editor six weeks before the date of issue.Editor: Michael P. Filosa, Ph.D., 18 Tamarack Road, Medfield, MA 02052 Email:

filosam(at)verizon.net; Tel: 508-843-9070Associate Editors: Myron S. Simon, 60 Seminary Ave. apt 272, Auburndale, MA 02466

Morton HoffmanBoard of Publications: James Phillips (Chair), Vivian K. Walworth, Mary Mahaney, Ajay Purohit,

Ken DrewBusiness Manager: VacantAdvertising Manager: Vacant: contact Michael Filosa at admanager@nesacs.orgContributing Editors: Morton Hoffman, Feature Editor Calendar Coordinator: Xavier Herault, Email: xherault(at)outlook.comPhotographers: Morton Hoffman and James PhillipsProofreaders: Donald O. Rickter, Vivian K. Walworth, Morton Z. Hoffman Webmaster: Roy HagenCopyright 2015, Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society, Inc.

The Northeastern Section of the AmericanChemical Society, Inc.Office: Anna Singer, 12 Corcoran Road,Burlington, MA 01803(Voice or FAX) 781-272-1966.e-mail: secretary(at)nesacs.orgNESACS Homepage:http://www.NESACS.orgOfficers 2015ChairKatherine L. LeePfizer610 Main StreetCambridge, MA 02139katherine.lee(at)pfizer.com617-674-7299Chair-ElectJerry P. JasinskiKeene State CollegeKeene, NH 03435-2001jjasinsk(at)keene.eduImmediate Past ChairCatherine E. CostelloBoston University School of Medicine670 Albany Street, room 511Boston, MA 02118-2646Cecmsms(at)bu.edu617-658-6490SecretaryMichael SingerSigma-Aldrich3 Strathmore Rd, Natick, MA 01360774-290-1391, michael.singer(at)sial.comTreasurerJames Piper19 Mill Rd, Harvard, MA 01451978-456-3155, piper28(at)attglobal.netAuditorAnthony RosnerArchivistKen MattesTrusteesRuth Tanner, Peter C. Meltzer, DorothyPhillipsDirectors-at-LargeDavid Harris, John Neumeyer, Mary Burgess,James Phillips, Ralph Scannell, John BurkeCouncilors /Alternate CouncilorsTerm Ends 12/31/2015Catherine E. Costello Jerry JasinskiRuth Tanner StephenLantosKen Mattes Mukund S. ChorghadeMichaeline Chen Wilton VirgoJackie O’Neil R. Christian MoretonTerm Ends 12/31/2016Michael Singer Sophia R. SuMary Shultz Leland L. Johnson, Jr.Robert Lichter Mary MahaneyHeidi Teng Raj RajurMarietta Schwartz Sonja Strah-PleynetTerm Ends 12/31/2017Michael P. Filosa John PodobinskiDoris I. Lewis Patrick GordonChristine Jaworek-Lopes Anna SromekPatricia A. Mabrouk Mary BurgessMark Tebbe Ralph ScannellMorton Z. Hoffman Andrew Scholte

ContentsReport from Boston: ACS National Meeting _________________4By Morton Z. Hoffman

Monthly Meeting _______________________________________5Presentation of the James Flack Norris Award for Outstanding Achievement inthe Teaching of Chemistry and presentation of the Arno Heyn Memorial BookPrize at the Holiday Inn Boston Brookline

NSYCC at ACS Boston: Young Chemists Engaging Nationally andInternationally_________________________________________6By Catherine Rawlins and Felicia Lucci

The Nucleus is Going Green ______________________________7Opt-in for a mailed hard copy by December 1, 2015

ACS Awards___________________________________________7Call for Abstracts!______________________________________714th Annual Symposium on Sustainability and the Environment

Mary Mahaney receives 2015 Arno Heyn Book Prize __________7Henry Hill ____________________________________________8By Arthur S. Obermayer

The Global Reach of Younger Chemists during the ACS NationalMeeting in Boston ____________________________________10By Leland Johnson and Felicia Lucci

Cover: Pictured are the recipients of the James Flack Norris Award for Out-standing Achievement in the Teaching of Chemistry (L-R) James Spencer,Franklin & Marshall College; Richard S. Moog, Franklin & Marshall College;and Frank J. Creegan, Washington College. (Photo by Marcy Dubroff)

Editorial Deadlines: January 2016 Issue: November 15, 2015 February 2016 Issue: December 15, 2015

All Chairs of standingCommittees, the editor of THE NUCLEUS, and the Trustees of SectionFunds are members of theBoard of Directors. AnyCoun cilor of the American Chemical Soci-ety residing within the section area is an exofficio member of the Board of Directors.

4 The Nucleus November 2015

Almost 14,000 attendees swarmedover the Boston Convention and Expo-sition Center (BCEC), the adjacentSeaport District hotels, and the otherhotels in Back Bay and downtown forthe 250th National Meeting in mid-August. Among the participants at themeeting were many members ofNESACS who gave technical presenta-tions, served on committees and Coun-cil, and were involved in social andprogrammatic activities. Here is abrief summary of some of the eventsthat took place.National Historic Chemical Land-markA ceremony and reception honoringthe establishment of a chemical land-mark in recognition of Edwin Landand instant photography was held onThursday, August 13, at the M.I.T.Museum with the installation of a com-memorative plaque at the formerPolaroid Corporation laboratory at 28Osborn Street, Cambridge. Under theaegis of a planning committee com-posed of members of NESACS,Polaroid Retirees Association, M.I.T.,and Cambridge civic leaders, the dedi-cation ceremony featured ACS Presi-dent Diane Grob Schmidt and membersof the ACS Board of Directors. A fur-ther celebration of Polaroid and EdwinLand was held the following day at theM.I.T. Museum. On Sunday afternoon,a symposium was held on Edwin Landand Instant Photography: Massachu-setts’s First National Historic ChemicalLandmark in the Division of the His-tory of Chemistry (HIST) that was alsocosponsored by President Schmidt.AtlantiChemThe follow-up meeting of the taskforceto explore the possibility of organizinga series of pentennial conferences(analogous to PacifiChem) to bringtogether chemical scientists and engi-

neers proximal to, but not necessarilyabutting, the Atlantic Ocean was heldwith representatives of ACS, CanadianSociety for Chemistry, Mexican Chem-ical Society (MCS), Brazilian Chemi-cal Society, Latin American Federationof Chemical Associations, GermanChemical Society (GDCh), Royal Soci-ety for Chemistry, and European Asso-ciation for Chemical and Molecular

Sciences in attendance. ACS presenteda statement of principles governing theactivities and obligations of the spon-soring societies; MCS proposed that thefirst AtlantiChem take place in Decem-ber 2017 or January 2018 in Cancun.It was agreed that a small group repre-senting the interested parties wouldmeet via teleconference within a monthto generate proposals to bring beforethe governing boards of the societiesfor action by the end of the year.ACS FellowsThe following members of NESACSwere recognized as ACS Fellows “foroutstanding achievements in and con-tributions to science, the profession,and the Society:” Peggy Cebe, Professor, Tufts Univer-sity – Recognized as a leader in thermalanalysis and calorimetry of polymers;pioneered the use of high-precision/

NESACS SponsorsCompany Contribution LevelAmgen PlatinumBiogen-Idec PlatinumJohnson-Matthey PlatinumSK Life Sciences PlatinumStrem PlatinumNova Biomedical GoldMerck SilverCelgene BronzeConditas Group BronzeCubist BronzeSigma-Aldrich Bronze BronzeTakeda BronzeVertex BronzeContribution Levels DonationPlatinum $5,000+Gold $3,500-5000Silver $2,000-3,500Bronze $500-2,000Meeting HostsAmgenAstra ZenecaBiogen-IdecBurlington High SchoolGenzyme, A Sanofi CompanyNova BiomedicalNovartisPfizerTufts UniversityVertex

continued on page 14

Report from the 250thAmerican ChemicalSociety National MeetingMorton Z. Hoffman [hoffman@bu.edu]

L to R- Michael Singer, NESACS Secretary, JackDriscoll, NESACS Public Relations Chair

(Photo by M.Z. Hoffman)

Nucleus Editor and long time Polaroidemployee Michael Filosa with the plaque honor-ing Edwin Land and his achievements

(Photo by Jennifer Herchen)

The Nucleus November 2015 5

Monthly MeetingThe 955th Meeting of the Northeastern Section of the AmericanChemical SocietyPresentation of the James Flack Norris Award forOutstanding Achievement in the Teaching of Chemistry Presentation of the the Arno Heyn Memorial Book PrizeThursday, November 12, 2015Holiday Inn Boston-Brookline1200 Beacon Street, Brookline, MAAgenda:4:30 pm Board Meeting5:30 pm Reception (Whitney B)6:30 pm Dinner (Whitney B)7:30 pm Evening Program, Dr. Katherine Lee, NESACS Chair, Presiding

Presentation of the Arno Heyn Memorial Book Prize to MaryMahaneyPresentation of the James Flack Norris Award for Excellence inTeaching to:Frank J. Creegan, W. Alton Jones Professor Emeritus, WashingtonCollege, Chestertown, MD.Richard S. Moog, Professor of Chemistry, Franklin & MarshallCollege, Lancaster, PA.James Spencer, William G. and Elizabeth R. Simeral ProfessorEmeritus, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA.

For those who would like to join us for dinner, register by noon, Thursday,November 5, using PayPal: http://acssymposium.com/paypal.html. Select thepay with credit or debit card option and follow the additional instructions onthe page. Cost: Members, $30; Non-members, $35; Retirees, $20; Students,$10. Dinner reservations not cancelled at least 24 hours in advance must bepaid. If you wish to join us for this meeting and not eat dinner, please registerby noon, Thursday, November 5, using PayPal: http://acssymposium.com/paypal.html. Select “Seminar only”. The fee is $1.

New members or those seeking additional information, contact theNESACS administrative coordinator, Anna Singer, at secretary@nesacs.org orat (781) 272-1966 during regular business hours only.

THE PUBLIC IS INVITED RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED BY Noon, November 5. THOSE WITHOUT RESERVATIONS WILL NOT BE ADMITTED TO THISEVENT.Directions to the Holiday Inn Boston-Brookline can be found athttp://www.holidayinn.com/hotels/us/en/brookline/bklma/hoteldetail/directions u

Biographies:Frank J. Creegan is W. Alton JonesProfessor of Chemistry, Emeritus atWashington College, where he taughtOrganic Chemistry for 40 years. Dur-ing that tenure he also held visitingprofessorships at the University ofKonstanz (Germany) and the Univer-sity of St. Andrews (Scotland). In2003-2004 he was Visiting Scholar inChemistry at University of California,Berkeley. He holds a Bachelor of Sci-ence degree in Chemistry from Merri-mack College and a Ph.D. in OrganicChemistry from Fordham University.A physical-organic chemist with spe-cialization in N-based heterocycles bytraining and research, he moved intothe area of chemical education, wherefor the past 25 years he has focused onthe development and dissemination ofGuided Inquiry (Discovery-based andLearning-Cycle-based) laboratoryexperiments. He abandoned the lectureformat for a student-centered approach

Abstract:Process Oriented Guided InquiryLearning (POGIL) is a student-cen-tered, team-learning approach toinstruction that is based on research onhow students learn best. In a POGILclassroom environment, students workcooperatively in small groups on spe-cially designed materials that guidethem to develop key course conceptsand to deepen and refine their under-standing of those ideas. In addition toenhancing content mastery, the POGILapproach also emphasizes the develop-ment of important process skills suchas critical thinking, problem solving,teamwork, and oral and written com-munication. 

POGIL teams typically consist ofthree or four students, each of whomhas an assigned role, with the instruc-tor primarily serving as a facilitator oflearning rather than a dispenser ofknowledge or information. POGILclassroom materials are carefully

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6 The Nucleus November 2015

Over the summer, the NSYCC hasbeen keeping busy! During the 250thACS National Meeting in Boston, wesponsored some great events thatappealed to young chemists world-wide. We started the week out right!On the first night of the conference, wehosted a mixer at the Back Bay SocialClub and ended up taking over thewhole place, hitting their capacity of250 people! We distributed over 200custom-made NSYCC lapel pins, andmade connections with numerousyoung chemists in our section, nation-ally, and internationally.

At the conference, the NSYCC co-hosted three symposia on a diverserange of topics appealing to youngchemists, including: entrepreneurship,green chemistry, and building interna-tional relationships.

The first symposium, was co-hosted by Ray Borg and Wasiu Lawalwas titled, Careers for Young Profes-sionals in Green Chemistry: BreakingBad Chemistry Habits. The sympo-sium was also co-sponsored by theACS divisions of Chemical Education(CHED), and the Green ChemistryInstitute (GCI), among many others.The symposium successfully intro-duced the 50+ young chemists in atten-dance to the field of green chemistryby presenting them with various careerpaths in academia, industry, govern-ment, and business that utilize sustain-able chemistry principles. Thesymposium also provided online tools,resources, and opportunities allowingyoung chemist to become active withinthe green chemistry community.Among the many great speakerswas Dr. David J. Constable, the Direc-tor of the ACS Green Chemistry Insti-tute. Due to the success of theprogram, there are plans to organize asimilar symposium for the 252nd ACSConference in Philadelphia.

The second symposium was calledthe Younger Chemists ExchangingMore than Currency: First—Euros and

Dollars; Next—Rupees, Rands, andReais was hosted in collaboration withGerman Exchange Steering Committeeand the National Younger ChemistsCommittee. Speakers included partici-pants from the various exchange pro-grams hosted by NESACS at theNational Meeting. The NSYCC werevery grateful to be included in theinternational exchange programmingcoordinated by NESACS. The Ger-man Exchange Steering Committeeinvited us to participate in many of thegreat activities planned for our gueststhroughout the week (see related arti-cle in this issue). As a result, weformed an international connectionwith young chemists from all over theworld.

The final symposium the NSYCCco-chaired was with Small ChemicalBusinesses (SCHB), and hosted by ourvery own Past Chair Jackie O’Neil.Speakers discussed the challenges andsurprises with starting up a new com-pany and developing new technology.The symposium provided a platformfor questions from potential chemicalentrepreneurs in the audience.2016 with the Younger ChemistsCommittee2016 is going to be another great yearfor NSYCC. We plan to host a chem-istry intensive local brewery tour, facil-itate an outreach event for local middleschool students, and tour several differ-ent chemical companies within theNortheastern Section to learn about thediversity of career options available.

Finally, the 18th Annual NortheastStudent Chemistry Research Confer-ence and Career Symposium will occuron April 23rd and 24th at UMassBoston’s brand new Chemistry Build-ing! We look forward to seeing you!For up-to-date information, visitnsycc.org and check out our Eventspage.

Not pictured: Brian D’Amico (Public-ity Co-Chair), Kyle Cole (Treasurer),Valerie Ivancic (Webmaster) u

JoinNESACS

on facebookwww.facebook.com/nesacs

NSYCC at ACS Boston: Young ChemistsEngaging Nationally and InternationallyCatherine Rawlins - NSYCC Chair-Elect, Felicia Lucci - NSYCC Chair

(L-R) Ray Borg (Career Chair), Felicia Lucci(Chair), Jackie O’Neil (Past Chair), and TimBergeron (Secretary) (Photo courtesy of RayBorg)

(L-R) Catherine Rawlins (Chair-Elect), Prim-rose Nimnark (Publicity Co-Chair), and CaitlynMills (Social Chair) Photo courtesy of Cather-ine Rawlins

The Nucleus November 2015 7

Call forAbstracts!14th Annual Symposium onSustainability and theEnvironmentSaturday, November 21, 20159:00 AM – 3:00 PMBridgewater State UniversityDana Mohler-Faria Science andMath CenterPlease join us as at the only sympo-sium dedicated to high school, collegeand university students working oneither environmental projects, or sus-tainability issues that address problemsfrom a campus, regional, national, orglobal perspective. Student projectscovering all academic disciplines arewelcome, including completed, inprogress, and proposed work. Abstracts and Registration must besubmitted by Monday, November 9thusing the URL link given below.Please note that there is a $20 registra-

tion fee, and that we can only accepton-line abstract submission and regis-tration!http://tinyurl.com/undergrad-abstract-submissionsPlease email questions to Ed Brush(ebrush@bridgew.edu) u

The Nucleusis GoingGreen: December 1,2015Deadline toOpt-in for aMailed HardCopyNESACS supports efforts to “gogreen” and offers NESACS membersthe option of receiving The NUCLEUSas an electronic copy or a hard copy. The electronic version is posted as apdf on www.nesacs.org.We are instituting a new policy, effec-tive January 1, 2016, that NESACSmembers who wish to receive a papercopy must opt in and indicate this pref-erence by December 1, 2015.The following link leads to the opt inform on the NESACS website:http://www.nesacs.org/home_nucleus_opt-in2.htmlMembers who do not opt in by Decem-ber 1, 2015 will receive an electroniccopy. u

MaryMahaney toReceive the2015 ArnoHeynMemorialBook PrizeMary Mahaney longtime member ofthe NESACS Board of Publications isthe 2015 recipient of the Arno HeynMemorial Book Prize for her contribu-tions to the publications of the North-eastern Section. The prize, which is abook of Mary's choosing, will be pre-sented at the November Meeting. Thebook will include a cover plate com-memorating Arno Heyn. More infor-mation on Arno and the Prize isavailable on the NESACS website.

Past recipients of the award havebeen: Mark Spitler and Sam Kounaves(2005), Vince Gale (2006), VivianWalworth (2007), Myron Simon(2008), Arthur Obermayer (2009),Donald Rickter (2010), Harvey C.Steiner (2011), Karen Piper (2012),Mindy Levine (2013) and Morton Z.Hoffman (2014). u

ACS AwardsThe ACS announced the recipients ofthe 2016 awards, which included thefollowing NESACS members:Eric N. Jacobsen, Harvard University:Arthur C. Cope Award, sponsored bythe Arthur C. Cope Fund.Lawrence T. Scott, Boston Collegeand University of Nevada, Reno:Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award, spon-sored by the Arthur C. Cope Fund.Robert G. Griffin, MassachusettsInstitute of Technology: E. Bright Wil-son Award in Spectroscopy, sponsoredby the ACS Division of PhysicalChemistry.Also, J.C. (Tito) Scaiano, Universityof Ottawa, will receive the JamesFlack Norris Award in PhysicalOrganic Chemistry sponsored by theACS Northeastern Section. u

For late breaking news, job postings and the latest meeting and event

information please visit us at

WWW.NESACS.ORG

Your one-stop source to career-relatedlinks in the Chemical Sciences

WWW.NESACS.ORG/CAREERS

8 The Nucleus November 2015

In February 1961, when I was 29years old and leaving the monthlymeeting of the Northeastern Section ofthe American Chemical Society, I sawHenry Hill, and told him that I had juststarted my own chemical research anddevelopment company and had rented2400 square feet of laboratory andoffice space on the second floor of abuilding at Kendall Square, Cam-bridge. He indicated that he was leav-ing National Polychemicals and alsoplanned to start his own research anddevelopment company, which he wascalling Riverside Research Laboratory.We recognized that our goals weresimilar, and I asked him if he wantedto join me at Moleculon, and heresponded affirmatively. Our closepersonal and professional relationshipcontinued for the next three or fouryears.

For almost the entire first year,our income was negligible, and neitherof us received any salary. I was payingfor all the laboratory and administra-tive costs and those of a secretary/administrative assistant, and an occa-sional chemist. Our bookkeeping wasfrom a single checkbook. Previously Ihad purchased at auction for $25 awhole stockroom of about 1000 chemi-cal reagents from a commercial analyt-ical laboratory that had gone out ofbusiness, and kept them in the garageof a friend until I had my own labspace.

My initial interest was in heatresistant polybenzamidazoles for mis-sile heat shields, and my first experi-ments were in the kitchenette of mybachelor apartment. Our laboratoryspace had formerly been occupied by apaint manufacturing company, andadjacent to our building was a giantcoal pile used by Cambridge Gas &Electric Co. Not infrequently wewould have to clean surfaces from coaldust and paint pigments. The buildingitself was erected in 1862 on a pierwhich extended out into the Charles

River, but much of the land had beenfilled in, and now it was on MainStreet about 100 yards from theCharles River and 100 yards fromKendall Square right where the sub-way comes out from underground.

Until we received our first con-tract, we built no walls within ourfacility, and the separation of officefrom laboratory area was providedonly by metal shelves erected byHenry’s young son, Tony. They werefilled with Henry’s extensive collectionof bound volumes of ChemicalAbstracts and Journal of the AmericanChemical Society, Henry’s proudestpossession.

Shortly thereafter, Daggett Choco-late Factory, which was located on theother side of Kendall Square, went outof business, and we purchased at auc-tion their stone lab benches and fumehoods. They were more than adequatefor a number of years, but during thefirst six months the fume hoodssmelled from chocolate. Without wallsneither Henry nor I had much privacy.

Henry was ambitious but respect-ful. He was outgoing and had a posi-tive attitude toward life. Hisprofessional, business and personalconnections were very important tohim, and he wanted to be respected andaccepted by a predominantly whitecommunity. Henry was a good negotia-tor and knowledgeable businessman.Previously he had gained broad experi-ence, not only in research, but also inbuilding a chemical plant, overseeingoperations and selling products to thepolymer industry. Finally, he decidedhe had the necessary experience tobuild his own company rather thanwork for someone else. During ourfirst year together he did some consult-ing related to his previous work atNational Polychemicals on blowingagents. These were principally azocompounds that give off nitrogen onheating and were added to polymers toproduce foams.

Above all, however, Henry was aprofessional in the true sense of theword.  He was concerned with respon-sibilities of chemists to society, to theiremployers, and to their peers. Hewanted to see chemists recognized astrue professionals and not just asemployees or tradespeople. It was pri-marily as a result of this dedication toprofessionalism that he becameincreasingly active in the AmericanChemical Society. He also spent con-siderable time building relationshipswithin the chemical profession eventu-ally leading to his election two yearslater as chairman of the NortheasternSection of the ACS.

He lived in a large, stately Victo-rian house on Riverside Street in aneighborhood of smaller houses inWatertown, not far from where theshoot-out ending the Marathonbomber’s escape took place. His wife,Adelaide, was a Harvard Ph.D. sociol-ogist who taught at Boston Universityand was from an elite black family.Sen. Ed Brooke was her first cousin,and her parents and grandfather wereprofessors.

Henry was always well aware thathe did not have the same cultural andprofessional family background as hiswife. When my wife and I had dinnerat the Hill home, he did most of thecooking. I specifically remember howhe would use a laboratory separatoryfunnel to efficiently remove the oilphase, of gravy from the water phasebecause he was concerned with reduc-ing the fat in his diet. Unfortunately,his concern was justified, since he diedat 63 from a heart attack. 

Henry did his undergraduate workat Johnson C. Smith University, ahighly regarded black universityfounded in Charlotte, North Carolina,in 1867.  He then wanted to go to MITand had good enough grades and rec-ommendations.  However, when he ini-tially applied, he was rejected, but

HENRY HILL American Chemical Society Meeting, Boston, Aug. 17, 2015

By Arthur S. Obermayer

continued on page 9

chemistry Prof. James Flack Norris ofMIT was concerned about the preju-dice against Henry. Norris had beenpresident of the ACS and was able toput enough pressure on the MIT deci-sion-makers so that they admittedHenry to the graduate program the fol-lowing year.  Henry was eternallygrateful to James Flack Norris. Whenthe Norris Award for the Teaching ofChemistry given yearly by the North-eastern Section of the ACS, had excessfunds, Henry made the personal effortto have the national ACS initiate a reg-ular James Flack Norris Award inPhysical Organic Chemistry. 

In 1961 Arthur C. Cope, anotherchairman of the MIT ChemistryDepartment (who was on my thesiscommittee and a personal advisor) alsobecame president of the ACS. He wasa very talented and strong leader, butantagonized some faculty members,resulting in his losing his job as depart-ment chairman. Henry Hill reactedwith one of his common expressions,“He who lives by the sword shall dieby the sword.”  Henry’s road to suc-cess was through positive connectionswith other professionals.  He definitelyfelt that people who were overlyaggressive would lose out in the end. 

My two previous jobs were withsmall companies that had governmentcontracts in the nuclear field. Becauseof this experience I also sought gov-ernment contracts, describing our pro-fessional staff as consisting of myself,Henry Hill, and some local post-docs,graduate students, and other chemistswho expressed a willingness for me touse their name, and to work for us part-time or more if we received fundingfrom these contracts.

I distinctly remember sometimelater the site visit by someone from theNational Institutes of Health. Webrought in everybody we could find —friends and people from neighboringbusinesses — so that it would look likean active, busy laboratory. The visitorwalked through the laboratory, glancedat the people, fortunately did not askthem any questions, and then sat down

with Henry and me to discuss technicalmatters. During the first year we weredesperate enough so that we wouldaccept income from almost any rep-utable source.

I previously had had a lot of expe-rience in working with radioactivityand concluded early on that we neededto go through the long process toobtain a license for handling radiotrac-ers on a laboratory scale. Tufts DentalSchool wanted to do some radiotracerresearch involving the saliva of dogs,but they did not have a license for lab-oratory use of radioactivity. They didnot need any research help from us;only the occasional use of our facili-ties. I was going to let them use ourfacilities for a $300 payment (equiva-lent to $2400 today), but Henryencouraged me to set a price based onthe value to them, since they appearedto have no realistic alternative. Afterexpressing my concern that they wouldturn down too high a price, I deferredto Henry’s more extensive businessexperience. I told them with a straight-forward face that it would cost $1500(or equivalent to $12,000 today), andthey immediately said “yes.”

As a result, I thought Henry was anegotiating genius. That representedmost of our sales in the first year. Inorder to carry out their experimentseach week they brought up to our labin burlap bags what appeared to bedead dogs, but were only anesthetized,and injected them with radioisotopes.After taking saliva samples they wouldput the dogs back into their burlapbags and remove them.

Our major break came on Decem-ber 12, 1961, when on the same daywe received two government contracts,one from Air Force CambridgeResearch Center for the synthesis andevaluation of benzimidazole deriva-tives for organic semiconductors.

The other contract was from theAir Force Special Weapons Laboratoryin Albuquerque, NM for the develop-ment of sophisticated, chemically-ori-ented technology for participation inan underground nuclear test at theNevada Test Site. These contracts andfollow-ons essentially provided full-time employment for Henry and me for

a couple of years. Although hisincome during those years was almostentirely from Moleculon, he wasfiercely independent and wanted togrow Riverside Research Laboratory.He did some research on fluorocarbonswith a friend at the National Bureau ofStandards and had good connectionswith the Quartermaster Lab in Natick,MA, and the Boston Branch of theOffice of Naval Research. He also car-ried out some studies on the synthesisof potential cancer chemotherapydrugs, and about the time he was leav-ing Moleculon he started on workrelated to consumer product safety.

The Air Force contract, whichinvolved our participation in an under-ground nuclear test in Nevada, had thecode name Marshmallow. It was amajor test costing tens of millions ofdollars and took place in a tunnel overa mile within Yucca Mountain.  (Inrecent years, there was extensive dis-cussion about storing nuclear wastesunder Yucca Mountain. I smile when Ihear concern about contamination ofthe environment, because I know thatthe interior of Yucca Mountain isalready badly contaminated from theproducts of nuclear explosions.) 

Our experiments were verysophisticated, and they took placewithin 26 foot long, 2” diameter thick-walled steel pipes whose interiors werefacing the nuclear device.  We neededto design a structure to hold these steelpipes in perfect alignment and assem-ble it within the Yucca Mountain tun-nel.  Henry worked with a Boston areametal fabrication firm to build the idealstructure to meet our stringent require-ments. Both of us, as well as someother Moleculon personnel, went toNevada to assemble this structure. TheNevada Test Site entrance is 65 milesfrom Las Vegas, and after passingthrough security, it was another 40miles to Area 12, where the test tookplace.  We lived in trailers near the tun-nel entrance and worked in nearbysheds. There was a train that trans-ported people and equipment on tracksfor the one-mile trip into the regionwhere a variety of equipment waslocated.

The Nucleus November 2015 9

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Henry HillContinued from page 8

10 The Nucleus November 2015

On behalf of the German Exchange Steering Committee, wewould like to share some of the best moments from thehighly successful visit to Boston by younger chemists fromaround the globe. Numerous volunteers from the NSYCC,the national Younger Chemists Committee (YCC), and localindustries assisted in executing programming for 40 partici-pants in each and every event, including representatives fromour local section and international participants in theexchange. With tremendous budgetary support from manyorganizations, this well-choreographed and complex visitwas successfully accomplished during the 250th ACSNational Meeting.

At this time in 2001, readers of The Nucleus were read-ing stories about a new and successful internationalexchange program developed by NESACS and theGesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh), i.e., the GermanChemical Society. Mort Hoffman recounted events of thefirst Exchange Program with Germany, describing the cul-tural, scientific, professional, and social events, includingscientific presentations, discussions on education in Ger-many and the United States, and coordination with theAmerican Chemical Society (ACS), the board of NESACS,the Younger Chemists Committee of NESACS (NSYCC)and others. Heavily involved in these efforts were thefounders and early adopters of the program, Mike Strem,Ruth Tanner, Mort Hoffman, Bob Lichter, and Amy Tapper.

In addition to reeling in the solemn days following9/11, readers of The Nucleus were allowed to escape withhope for the future of our chosen profession, chemistry.There was hope that this amazing new program could tran-scend political and cultural differences while providingopportunities for younger chemists from both our sectionand Germany to reach out and to discuss their research onan international stage. These interactions would set the stu-dents apart from their peers and improve their professionalnetworks while broadening their view of the world.

Flash forward to 2015. Fourteen years later, the originalfounders are still having a crucial impact on the programwhile inspiring new leaders to continue with the work of thefounders. This year the program expanded to include twoadditional international exchange programs inspired by andmodeled after the Exchange Program with Germany. Thesenew groups opened up new channels for international col-laborations for all the younger chemists involved.

We thank our generous sponsors—The budgetapproved by NESACS supported a majority of theactivities during the week!• The Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Soci-

ety• James Flack Norris Trust (NESACS)• Henry A. Hill Trust (NESACS)• The American Chemical Society (ACS)• Younger Chemists Committee (YCC)• Membership Activities Committee (MAC)• Local Section Innovative Program Grant (IPG)• Global Initiative Grant (GIG)• Corporation Associates Local Section Grant (CA)• The Northeast Region- P3 Award (NERACS P3) • Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh)• JungChemikerforum (JCF)• European Association for Chemical and Molecular Sci-

ences (EuCheMS)• European Younger Chemists Network (EYCN)• The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)• Genzyme- A Sanofi Company• Strem Chemicals, Inc.More than a year ago, plans began to take shape for the Ger-man Exchange Steering Committee to host a joint exchangeprogram with National YCC during the 2015 ACS NationalMeeting. More than twenty international delegates, repre-senting 7 countries, would travel to Boston to represent theGerman Chemical Society Younger Chemists Committee(GDCh-JCF) and the European Young Chemists Network(EYCN). A third exchange program, International YoungChemists Network (IYCN), would also join us for a portionof the week, bringing an additional 25 participants represent-ing 15 more countries. From the arrival of the first flights,delegates and our volunteers were constantly on the move,participating in the ACS meeting and networking eventswhile enjoying the culture of New England.

The week began on Saturday, August 15th, at LoganInternational Airport with flights from Frankfort, Madrid,London, Amsterdam and elsewhere. After clearing customs,nearly twenty participants traveled to the College Club ofBoston with Felicia Lucci, Ruth Tanner, Martin Isaks, andLeland Johnson. Perfectly positioned in Back Bay, the Col-

The Global Reach of Younger Chemistsduring the ACS National Meeting inBostonContributions by Leland Johnson and Felicia Lucci, German Exchange Steering Committee

lege Club served as the operations hub for volunteers andthe living quarters for delegates during the week. Shortlyafter arrival at the hotel, the NSYCC, led by Felicia Lucci,began aiding our guests by distributing maps, schedules, andregistration credentials to each of the 20+ delegates and sup-porting members.

Immediately the group departed for the first of manyengaging dinners; this one at Maggiano’s Little Italy inBack Bay. The younger chemist at the dinner includedtwelve members of the JungChemikerForum (JCF) fromGermany and six participants from Younger ChemistsCrossing Borders (YCCB), as well as the chairs of the JCF,EYCN, and NSYCC. Over a welcome reception and dinner,an inviting atmosphere was enjoyed as participants began tocompare and contrast the activities of young chemistsworldwide. Energized by cheerful networking, good food,and a few adult beverages, the dinner kicked off the eventsof the week in style. Brian D’Amico diligently recordedscores of images on Saturday evening, contributing to hun-dreds of photos he collected throughout the week. Each pic-ture will serve as permanent record of the development ofglobal friendships and a reminder of the bonds created as aresult of participation in the joint exchange program.

Starting on Sunday, August 16th, the chemists traveled dailyto the Boston Convention and Exposition Center (BCEC) tolisten to technical presentations and engage in scientific dis-cussions. For many of the European delegates, they hadnever attended a scientific meeting as large as the ACSnational meeting. At first the number of talks overwhelmedour guests, but they immediately began attending presenta-tions relevant to their own research. During the week, thedelegates gave more than 30 talks; these talks initiated col-laborative discussions. The technical program left a fantas-tic scientific impression on our guests. As relayed by one ofthe JCF members, “The ACS Meeting & Exhibition was anamazing experience. I have never been to such a big meet-ing before. Furthermore, the exchange with American col-

leagues was very inspiring, and the whole atmospherebetween the different people was great…Definitely an expe-rience I will remember for the rest of my life.”

On Monday, delegates, alumni, and society representa-tives participated in an all-day symposium and lunch at theSeaport Hotel in Boston. The title of the symposium wasYounger Chemists Exchanging More than Currency: First—Euros and Dollars; Next—Rupees, Rands, and Reais. Thepast, present and future operations of various exchanges, thepersonal experiences of several delegates, and entertaining,yet poignant “my-path-to-here” presentations ruled the sym-posium schedule. After nine hours in one room, we eachtook away several action items from the Seaport Hotel.Specifically, young chemists’ organizations worldwide havethe potential to impact the progress of both their societiesand individual participants. Regardless of location, eachorganization provides multiple opportunities for personalgrowth and unforgettable experiences.

Discussions about the impact of young chemists continuedon Wednesday during a meeting for an ACS initiative todevelop a global network for young chemists. The work-shop featured passionate discussions about global inclusionof all young chemists, demonstrating the commitment of thenext generation of scientists to their home societies and tointernational collaborations. In addition to furthering inter-continental relations, the event provided local youngchemists with the opportunity to become actively involvedwith the international activities of the ACS. Many partici-pants of International Young Chemists Network (IYCN)programming joined us for the remainder of the week tocontinue to build upon these relationships.

Though many scientific and societal collaborationswere initiated during the meeting, plenty of socializing alsooccurred. We attended numerous receptions and socialevents with our guests during the meeting. Post-meeting

The Nucleus November 2015 11

Members of the 2015 GDCh-JCF Exchange to Boston pose after the wel-come dinner with the NSYCC at the welcome dinner at Maggiano’s LittleItaly in Back Bay, Boston. Image courtesy of Brian D’Amico

Alumni of the Exchange Program with Germany, Lauren Wolf (2003, nowwith C&EN) and Leland Johnson (2006, now with Conditas BiotechnologyGroup and 2016 Chair-Elect, NESACS) spoke to Monday’s audience aboutthe positive impacts of the exchange on personal career paths and theinfluence of the exchange on other similar programs.

Image courtesy of Mort Hoffman.

continued on page 12

12 The Nucleus November 2015

receptions began on Sunday night with the InternationalAttendees Reception where delegates and internationalchemical society leaders mingled, built new connections,and offered personal invitations to some of the eventsplanned for the week. On Monday, many delegates attendedSci-Mix to support their colleagues’ poster presentations andto converse about scientific results in a more relaxed atmos-phere. The networking continued at the ChemluminaryAwards and Reception, where we all applauded the PublicRelations Committee for receiving two awards. Dancing to90s pop music continued well into the night. In addition tonetworking events organized for the meeting, many dele-gates enjoyed after hours discussions and refreshments withthe NSYCC. On Sunday night, the NSYCC hosted a wickedcool get together at the Back Bay Social Club. Originallyslated for a small gathering of 10-15 people, nearly 250chemists of all ages showed up to unofficially kick off ACSweek and the week of exchange events.

After the scientific program on Wednesday, the cultural por-tion of the exchange program officially began with a baseballgame at Fenway Park. The game was one of the highlightsof the exchange, as local members of NESACS enjoyed ex -plaining the intricacies of baseball to our intrigued guests.Sponsored entirely by a generous donation from StremChemicals, Inc., we traveled as a group to Fenway Park andenjoyed a win for the Red Sox over the Cleveland Indians!Anticipated for some time, many guests joined us to watchthe Red Sox score 4 home runs for an entertaining win, 6-4!Despite some question as to whether the section allowed

adult beverages or not, many enjoyed the game and the liba-tions, with additional guests, including 2011 President of theACS, Nancy Jackson, and CEO of the ACS, Tom Connelly.After the game many continued the night’s celebrations inthe bustling bars near Fenway Park. At least one of our Ger-man delegates commented, “I really liked the baseball game!”Though many on the exchange had never before attendedthis bedrock activity of Americana, most were able to gleana great deal of background from an explanation of baseball,provided in advance, by NESACS’ own Mort Hoffman.

Thursday provided a much-anticipated trip to Woods HoleOceanographic Institute (WHOI). With additional membersof the International Young Chemists Network joining us, wetraveled down to tour WHOI. Due to our large size (>40people), we split up chemists of similar background into theHydrogen-Carbon and Oxygen-Nitrogen groups to tour theQuissett Campus, where we saw the laboratories for carbondating. The highlight of the tour was seeing Alvin, theresearch submarine. Between tours we enjoyed the beauti-ful August day while having a relaxing lunch on the water-front.

Nearly 250 people joined the local NSYCC at the Back Bay Social Club onSunday evening. Image courtesy of Brian D’Amico.

Kevin Nagel (GDCh), Christine Dunne (YCC, YCCB) and Goswin deKruijff (GDCh) enjoy lunch at the docks outside of WHOI.

Image courtesy Brian D’Amico

CEO of the American Chemical Society, Tom Connelly, and EducationCoordinator for the GDCh, Education and Science, Elisabeth Kapatsina,share a moment at Fenway Park. Image courtesy of Leland Johnson.

Young Chemists Global ReachContinued from page 11

That evening, Jackie O’Neil (Alkermes) and Jens Breffke(NIST, YCCB) organized an amazing social and profes-sional networking event at Goodwill Park that facilitatednetworking between younger chemists and society repre-sentatives from around the globe. With sponsorship from theRSC, the GDCh, and EuCheMS, representatives in atten-dance included founding members of the German ExchangeCommittee, NESACS, EYCN, IYCN, and, of course, thedelegates. We were honored to welcome David Cole Hamil-ton, president of EuCheMS, who joined us for the day.

On Friday delegates were temporarily split into smaller,more manageable groups to tour MIT or Harvard. Alumnifrom our 2014 Jena Exchange arranged tours of universitylabs. After the tours each group walked along the CharlesRiver to the Sanofi’s (Genzyme) Allston cGMP productionplant, where Andrew Scholte and his colleagues arranged forlunch and a tour of their facilities. There we explored thewell-designed and visionary plant with the site head andothers from Genzyme. Our tour guides were helpful,informative, and funny. Each of us learned a great dealabout rare diseases and the serious challenges faced by com-panies who choose to tackle some of the hardest questionsin health care.As our week came to an end, Friday was the evening to say“farewell” to our new friends. We found a dinner and cruiseon The Odyssey from Rowes Wharf might be a great venuefor the last night the group was together. This turned out tobe a great opportunity to reflect on the amazing week of sci-ence and fun and to focus on the future events that will cer-tainly bring some of us together again and again. The foodon the boat was great! The atmosphere was perfect, despitea bit of rain earlier in the evening. Our group enjoyed alldecks on the boat and the many different views of theBoston Harbor and our beloved host city. The celebrationcontinued after departing from the boat. At a local bar manyother colleagues we met during the week joined us for a

final celebration. In conclusion, the return on investment our section has real-ized from this program for the last 15 years will continue inearnest for the years to come. Local younger chemists areeagerly preparing their applications for two outboundexchange visits to Europe to attend the JCF-Frühjahrssym-posium in Kiel, Germany and the EuCheMS Chemistry

The Nucleus November 2015 13

Delegates from three exchange programs converged on Sanofi’s Allstonproduction facility. We thank our sponsors for their ongoing support ofprograms like these. Image courtesy Brian D’Amico.

Delegates from GDCh, YCCB, IYCN exchange program pose for a picturewith members of NSYCC and the Steering Committee before boarding theboat for a farewell dinner. Image courtesy of Premier Yachts, Inc.

Delegates from GDCh, YCCB, IYCN exchange program pose for a picturewith members of NSYCC and the Steering Committee before boarding theboat for a farewell dinner. Image courtesy of Premier Yachts, Inc.

Forming lasting friendships amongst exchange participants. (left to right)Fernando Gomollón Bel (EYCN Chair), Catherine Rawlins (NSYCCChair-Elect), and Michael Linden (JCF Chair) at Woods Hole Oceano-graphic Institute. Image courtesy of Catherine Rawlins.

continued on page 15

14 The Nucleus November 2015

high-accuracy heat capacity measure-ments of polymer materials science tothe study of biomacromolecules;served as Chair of the Polymeric Mate-rials: Science and Engineering Division(PMSE), managing participation at the2001 national meetings; as PMSE Pro-gram Chair, she organized programsfor the 2000 national meetings.John (Jack) Driscoll, Founder andPresident, PID Analyzers – Developedthe first photoionization detector (PID)for parts-per-billion levels of organiccompounds by gas chromatography in1973; developed a PID for parts-per-trillion levels of arsenic and mercury infood in 2013; started the Cape CodScience Café and has organized 12since 2011; also started the STEMJourney Event for K-12 students andorganized the first two with more than1,000 participants.Michael Singer, R&D Manager forNew and Special Products, Sigma-Aldrich – Recognized for originalresearch contributions in the field ofcannabinoid chemistry and design andvalidation of chemistry for the high-throughput synthesis of proprietarycombinatorial libraries; served as Sec-retary (1998-present) and Councilor(1996-present) for NESACS and wasrecognized with the Henry Hill Awardfor Outstanding Service to NESACS(2008); ACS committee appointmentshave included Chemical AbstractsService, Local Section Activities, and,currently, Meetings & Expositions. George WhitesidesPerhaps the hardest working individualat the meeting was George Whitesides,the Woodford L. and Ann A. FlowersUniversity Professor at Harvard Uni-versity. He spoke on Sunday noon atthe ACS Board of Directors Open Ses-sion on “Reengineering Chemistry.”In the afternoon he gave a talk in asymposium on True Stories fromEntrepreneurs in the Division of SmallChemical Businesses (SCHB), “Gener-ating Effective Diagnostic Technologyfor the Developing World.” On Mon-day morning, he spoke in a symposiumon Thirty Years of Langmuir: Looking

Back and Forward in the Division ofColloid and Surface Chemistry about“Charge Transport by TunnelingThrough SAMs.” He spoke on “Bio-materials Interfaces” in a Division ofPhysical Chemistry symposium onProtein-Nanomaterial Interfaces andProtein Coronas in the afternoon fol-lowed by a talk on “From University toReality” in the Henry Hill Symposiumof SCHB. Later that afternoon, hegave the Fred Kavli Innovations inChemistry Lecture, “Problems, Puz-zles, and Inevitabilities in Research,”to an overflow crowd at BCEC. Brightand early on Tuesday morning, he wasthe featured speaker at the SeniorChemists Breakfast; in the afternoonhe spoke about “From Discovery toCommercialization” in an InternationalActivities Committee symposium onInternational Entrepreneurship. Hewas also the coauthor of a presentationon Sunday morning in a symposium onPeptides, Proteins, and Amino Acids inthe Division of Organic Chemistry(ORGN), and of one on Wednesdaymorning in a symposium on Frontiersof Functional Interfaces in ORGN.Presumably he rested the next day.Henry Hill CentenaryFour symposia were held commemo-rating the centenary of the birth ofHenry Hill (1915-1979), who was anactive member of NESACS (Chair,1963) and the first African-Americanpresident of the ACS (1977): Profes-sional Legacy, Division of ProfessionalRelations (PROF); His Legacy in Sci-ence and in Professional Service,HIST; Commercial Enterprises in thePolymer Sector, SCHB; Innovations inPolymer Discovery and Applications,Division of Polymer Chemistry. OnTuesday, August 18, a reception washeld to celebrate the naming of HenryHill as the (posthumous) recipient ofthe PROF Henry Hill Award; acceptingthe award for his father was Tony Hill.Also recognized was ChristineJaworek-Lopes (Emmanuel College),the 2015 recipient of the Henry HillAward for Outstanding Service toNESACS.ChemLuminary AwardsNESACS received two ChemLumi-

nary Awards at the 17th annual cere-mony (Promoting Chemistry ThroughInnovation and Passion) on Tuesday,August 18. The award for OutstandingCollaboration Between a Local Sectionand Division from the Local SectionActivities and Divisional ActivitiesCommittees was presented toNESACS, the Division of Develop-ment and Management, and SCHB fortheir participation in the ACS Entre-preneurial Forum at Nova Biomedicalin Waltham in April 2014. The awardfor an Outstanding NCW Event for aSpecific Audience recognized theWicked Cool day of family fun withthe Cape and Island Boy Scouts Coun-cil of America in Yarmouthport as partof a Cape Cod Science Café in October2014. Accepting both awards wereJack Driscoll and Jennifer Maclachlan(PID Analyzers).German ExchangeTwelve graduate students from Ger-many joined the Chair of the Jung-chemikerforum (JCF) and twoaccompanying persons to Boston forthe 15th annual Exchange Programbetween NESACS and GDCh. Thestudents made presentations in techni-cal sessions and Sci-Mix, and werejoined by local exchange alumni andrepresentatives of Young ChemistsCrossing Borders, European YoungChemists Network, InternationalYoung Chemists Network, and theNESACS younger chemists for meals,visits to local laboratories, a Red Soxgame, an excursion to Cape Cod, and a

ACS National MeetingContinued from page 4

NESACS Board Member Anna Sromek with theACS Moles at the NESACS Hospitality Booth

(Photo by M.Z. Hoffman)

continued on page 15

Moleculon was by far the smallestcompany involved in this program. Wewere working with engineers frommajor defense contractors, such asLockheed, Sandia Corporation, andGE, as well as Department of Defenseand Energy technical personnel. 

We needed to meticulously cleanthe pipes so there would be no residualcontamination inside, but it was diffi-cult for us to convince the plumbers’union to allow us to do it. Henry wentback to Boston before the test tookplace, but I stayed on. The pipes hadmany donut-ring-like explosive clo-sures to seal off segments of the pipein a small fraction of a second after thenuclear explosion. White wires leading

off from the pipes were electronic det-onators. Our equipment was recoveredafter the nuclear explosion. 

Disarray was caused by the explo-sive closures, which protected the pipeinteriors from the ambient environmentafter the nuclear explosion.  The regionwhere the equipment was placed wasnot radioactive after the nuclear test,because the tunnel was designed toclose in on itself before radioactivegases and particulates could escape.

However, recovery was carriedout by people wearing self-containedrespirator masks. Although this washardly the environment in which mostchemists work, when the pipe seg-ments were brought back to Cam-bridge, we successfully carried outsome complex, quantitative chemicalexperiments. They included a radio-tracer experiment where we distin-guished the fate of five differentlyemitting radioisotopes in the samesample. We also measured the kineticsof gaseous reactions and ultra hightemperature polymer degradation.

Eventually Henry and I amicablyparted ways. I wanted him to workfull time for Moleculon, but he wantedto retain his independence with River-side Research Laboratory. As his relo-cation announcement put it, Riversidewas moving from the banks of theCharles River to the banks of the Mer-rimack River in Haverhill. Thereafterwe remained friends but maintainedseparate business activities.

The industrial chemical researchworld for small businesses haschanged a lot since Henry and I gotstarted. Then there were no angelinvestment groups, no small businessincubators or accelerators, no publicforums, no crowd sourcing, and onlyone high tech venture capital invest-ment company in the U.S. Patent titleunder government contracts stayedwith the government, and the SmallBusiness Innovation Research programdid not exist. It was much riskier tostart a new chemical business then, andthe time it took for each of us to getestablished was typical. Our mutualsupport during those early yearsallowed both of us to be successful. u

The Nucleus November 2015 15

Henry HillContinued from page 9

Boston harbor cruise. A full-day sym-posium was held on Monday in theprogram of the Younger ChemistsCommittee, Younger ChemistsExchanging More than Currency: First– Euros and Dollars, Next – Rupees,Rands, and Reais; among the speakerswere Marinda Wu (2013 ACS Presi-dent), Elisabeth Kapatsina (GDCh),Michael Linden (JCF), and Lee John-son (NESACS). Lauren Wolf (C&EN),2003 Exchange participant as a Ph.D.student at B.U., was the speaker at theluncheon between the sessions.Host Section Hospitality BoothMembers of NESACS were present atthe host section booth in BCEC fromSaturday afternoon through Thursdayof the meeting, answering questionsabout the program and helping atten-dees find their way around Boston.CouncilNESACS Councilors Michael Singerand Morton Hoffman were recognizedfor their 15 years of service on theACS Council. Council also approveda resolution unanimously, thankingNESACS for all the work its membersdid to make the Boston meeting a greatsuccess. u

ACS National MeetingContinued from page 14

Congress in Seville, Spain. Every year,this exchange initiates a passion forinternational collaborations and revealsthe opportunities available withinNESACS for young chemists. All butone of our YCC chairpersons has comefrom the Exchange Program with Ger-many, while several of our GermanExchange Steering Committee mem-bers have been Chairs of NESACS.Finally, our section should, basedsolely or partially on our activitiesdescribed here, be well positioned toapply for and earn national and inter-national recognition through the fol-lowing Chemluminary Awards- 1) YCC

Outstanding Local Section YoungerChemists Committee

2) YCCOutstanding or Creative Local Sec-tion Younger Chemists CommitteeEvent

3) LSAC and DACOutstanding Collaboration BetweenA Division and Local Section

4) Corporation AssociatesOutstanding Local Section IndustryEvent

5) Committee on International Activi-tiesGlobal Engagement Award: LocalSection

6) Local Section Partnership AwardMost Innovative New Activity orProgram

7) Outstanding Performance by aLocal Section – Very Large SizeCategory Award (This is based uponthe year-long efforts of the section)

Our committee will work with theother parties involved in our events toself-nominate for these awards.Exchange programs like this could notoccur without strong volunteers andwithout strong local, regional, national,and international support. On behalf ofthe committee, we thank our sponsors,our volunteers, our participants, andyou very much! u

Global ReachContinued from page 13

16 The Nucleus November 2015

to learning that involved classroomgroup-based activities that oftenbrought student-generated laboratorydata into discussion that led to thedevelopment of important chemistryconcepts. He was a founding memberof the U.S. Department of Education-funded Middle Atlantic DiscoveryChemistry Project (MADCP) and co-PI of the 2002 NSF grant that launchedthe POGIL Project. Richard S. Moog is Professor ofChemistry at Franklin & Marshall Col-lege and Director of The POGIL Proj-ect. He received an A.B. in Chemistryfrom Williams College and Ph.D. inPhysical Chemistry from Stanford Uni-versity. At F&M since 1986, he regu-larly teaches courses in generalchemistry and physical chemistry,where he has used a student-centered,guided inquiry instructional approachfor over 20 years. In 1994, Moog wasthe principal investigator for the U.S.Department of Education–funded Mid-dle Atlantic Discovery Chemistry Proj-ect (MADCP) and served as the leaderof that organization for many years. Hewas also the lead P.I. for two largeNational Science Foundation grantsthat established and expanded ThePOGIL Project from 2003 to 2011.With F&M colleague John Farrell, heauthored the collection of POGILactivities for general chemistry, Chem-istry: A Guided Inquiry, which is nowin its 6th edition. He is also the co-author, along with John Farrell and JimSpencer, of two collections of POGILactivities for physical chemistry: Phys-ical Chemistry: A Guided Inquiry:Thermodynamics and Physical Chem-istry: A Guided Inquiry: Atoms, Mole-cules, and Spectroscopy. In addition,he has developed guided inquiry exper-iments for use in the general chemistrylaboratory. He has organized numeroussymposia at national ACS and BCCEmeetings concerning POGIL (andactive learning more generally)throughout the chemistry curriculum,and has given dozens of presentations,posters, and workshops on POGIL. Heis also coauthor of several journal arti-

cles and book chapters and the co-edi-tor of the ACS Symposium Series vol-ume: Process Oriented Guided InquiryLearning.James Spencer is the emeritusWilliam G. and Elizabeth R. SimeralProfessor of Chemistry at Franklin &Marshall College. A native of WestVirginia, he was named the 2005 recip-ient of the George C. Pimentel awardin Chemical Education for “the myriadways in which his lifelong commit-ment and vision have enhanced theunderstanding of chemistry studentsand teachers throughout the country.”

Spencer received his B.S. fromMarshall University in 1963 (whichhonored him with its outstandingalumnus award in 2003), and his Ph.D.from Iowa State University in 1967.Following his graduate studies, hejoined the faculty of Lebanon ValleyCollege and then the Franklin & Mar-shall faculty in 1980. He retired fromthe latter in 2007.

At F&M, Spencer was instrumen-tal in establishing the Hackman Fel-lows program, a collaborative summerresearch program that pairs studentsand faculty. He was a founding mem-ber of the Council on UndergraduateResearch and spearheaded studies tofoster research proposals from liberalarts colleges. A recipient of F&M’sLindback Award for DistinguishedTeaching and the Bradley R. DeweyScholarship that recognizes outstand-ing research, Spencer is a member ofthe American Chemical Society andthe American Association for the boardof Chemistry (1973-77). He alsoserved as chair of the ACS Task Forceon the General Chemistry Curriculum,and earned the Chemical Manufac-turer’s Association National CatalystAward in 1987. He was the recipientof the ACS award for research at anundergraduate institution and hasreceived several grants from ResearchCorporation, Petroleum ResearchFund, Project SEED, the National Sci-ence Foundation, and Dreyfus.

Spencer has authored more than100 articles, many co-authored withstudents, as well as several modularexperiments. He is also the co-authorof a general chemistry text, the guided-

inquiry modules, and collections ofactivities in thermodynamics and quan-tum chemistry.

He has served as a member andchair of the Advanced PlacementDevelopment Committee, and the co-chair of the AP Redesign Panel. Inaddition, he was lead consultant for theAP Chemistry Guided-Inquiry Experi-ments College Board in 2013 andserved as editor-at-large and contentadviser for the POGIL high-schoolchemistry collections published byFlinn Scientific.

As a guiding force of The POGILProject, Spencer has maintained a life-time commitment to the cause ofundergraduate teaching and researchand has become a national catalyst forcurricular reform in introductorychemistry. u

BiographiesContinued from page 5

What exactly goes on at NESACS’monthly Board meetings?

www.nesacs.org/reports

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The Nucleus November 2015 17

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designed, typically following a learn-ing cycle that begins with explorationof data or other information for the stu-dents to interpret or analyze. A seriesof guiding questions helps studentsmake sense of this information andleads them to the development of theintended concept. This concept is thenreinforced through an application to anew situation or context. Frequently,this “application phase” then leads intoa new exploration, and the cyclebegins again.

In this interactive presentation,attendees will have an opportunity toexperience (briefly) a POGIL class-room environment. We will use thisexperience as a basis for further dis-cussion of the overall philosophy ofthe POGIL pedagogic approach, theresearch on student learning and cogni-tion on which it is based, and the evi-dence of its effectiveness in promotingstudent learning and retention of infor-mation. u

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Index of AdvertisersChemir .................................17Eastern Scientific Co...........20Micron, Inc. .........................17Northeastern University ...2,19NuMega Resonance Labs....17Organix, Inc.........................18PCI Synthesis ......................18Rilas Technologies, Inc. ......18Robertson Microlit Labs. ....17Tyger Scientific, Inc. ...........17

The Nucleus November 2015 19

Check the NESACS home pagefor late Calendar additions:http://www.NESACS.orgNote also the Chemistry Department webpages for travel directions and updates.These include:http://www.bc.edu/schools/cas/chemistry/semina

rs.htmlhttp://www.bu.edu/chemistry/seminars/http://www.brandeis.edu/departments/chemistry/

events/index.htmlhttp://chemistry.harvard.edu/calendar/upcominghttp://www.northeastern.edu/cos/chemistry/event

s-2/http://chemistry.mit.edu/events/allhttp://chem.tufts.edu/seminars.htmlhttp://engineering.tufts.edu/chbe/newsEvents/se

minarSeries/index.asphttp://www.chem.umb.eduhttp://www.umassd.edu/cas/chemistry/http://www.uml.edu/Sciences/chemistry/Seminar

s-and-Colloquia.aspxhttp://www.unh.edu/chemistry/events

November 2Prof. Yan Yu (Indiana University)Boston University, Life Sciences andEngineering Building, Rm B014:00 pmProf. Jennifer Prescher (UCal-Irvine)“Expanding the imaging toolbox.”Harvard, Pfizer Lecture Hall4:15 pmNovember 3Prof. Robert Hamers (U. Wisconsin-Madison)Tufts, Pearson, Room P-1064:00 pm

Prof. Sharon Song (UNH)Univ. of New Hampshire, Room N10411:10 amNovember 9Prof.  Huiwang Ai (UCal-Riverside)Boston University, Life Sciences andEngineering Building, Rm B014:00 pmProf. Phil Baran (Scripps)“Studies in Natural Product Synthesis.”Harvard, Pfizer Lecture Hall4:15 pmNovember 12Prof. Ken Houk (UCLA) Dr. Jingjun Yin (Merck)MIT, Room 6-1204:00 pmProf. Daniel Raleigh (Stony Brook University)Tufts, Pearson, Room P-1064:00 pmNovember 16Prof. Qui Wand (Duke)Boston University, Life Sciences andEngineering Building, Rm B014:00 pmProf. Seth Herzon (Yale) Harvard, Pfizer Lecture Hall4:15 pmNovember 17Prof. Amy Herr (UCal-Berkeley)“Targeted proteomics with single-cell and sub-cellular resolution.”Tufts, Pearson, Room P-1064:00 pmDr. Gerald J. Tanoury (Vertex Pharmaceuticals)Univ. of New Hampshire, Room N10411:10 am

November 23Prof. Robert Knowles (Princeton)Boston University, Life Sciences andEngineering Building, Rm B014:00 pmNovember 24Prof. André K. Isaacs (Holy Cross)Univ. of New Hampshire, Room N10411:10 amNovember 30Prof. Andrei Kutateladze (Denver University)Boston University, Life Sciences andEngineering Building, Rm B014:00 pmNotices for The NucleusCalendar of Seminars should be sent to:Xavier Herault, email: xherault(at)outlook.comu

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