SUMMARY OF GOVERNANCE ACTIONS/REPORTS: Spring 2006
American Chemical Society
231st ACS National Meeting
Atlanta, GA
March 26-30, 2006
The following summary is provided to help councilors report to their local sections and divisions on key
actions of the ACS Council and Board of Directors at the 2006 spring national meeting.
ACTIONS OF THE COUNCIL
Election Results
• The Committee on Nominations and Elections presented to the Council the following nominees
for selection as candidates for President-Elect, 2007: Bruce E. Bursten, Richard Eisenberg, Bassam
Z. Shakhashiri, and Matthew V. Tirrell. By written ballot the Council selected Bruce E. Bursten and
Bassam Z. Shakhashiri as candidates for 2007 President-Elect. These two candidates will stand for
election in the Fall National Election.
• The Committee on Nominations and Elections announced the results of the election to select
candidates from the list of nominees to represent District I and District V on the Board of Directors for
the term 2007-2009. Nominees for District I included: D. Richard Cobb, Thomas R. Gilbert, Peter C.
Jurs, and Anne T. O’Brien. Nominees for District V included John E. Adams, Judith L. Benham,
Richard S. Givens, and Josef Michl. By mail ballot the Council selected Thomas R. Gilbert and Anne
T. O’Brien as District I candidates; and as District V candidates, John E. Adams and Judith L. Benham.
Ballots will be mailed on or before October 10 to all members in District I and District V for election of a
Director for each District.
Candidates for Directors-at-Large
• The Committee on Nominations and Elections announced the selection of the following
candidates for Directors-at-Large for a 2007-2009 term: William H. (Jack) Breazeale, Jr., Dennis
Chamot, Peter K. Dorhout, Paul R. Jones, Valerie J. Kuck, and Dorothy J. Phillips. The election of
three Directors-at-Large will be conducted in the fall. Two candidates will fill the 2007-2009 term, and
one will fill a two-year vacancy for 2007-2008 created by the resignation of Director-at-Large James D.
Burke (effective December 31, 2006). Ballots will be mailed to the Council on or before October 10.
Committee Review
• As part of a regular review, the Council VOTED to continue the Committee on Admissions and
the Committee on Professional Training. The Committee on Admissions has the power to interpret and
apply the requirements for membership, including determining status of applicants educated in foreign
countries. The Committee on Professional Training promotes and assists in the development of high
standards of excellence in all aspects of post-secondary chemical education, and undertakes studies
important to their maintenance.
The Society’s Finances
• The Society ended 2005 with a net contribution from operations of $11.6 million, which was $9.1
million favorable to the approved budget. The favorable variance was primarily attributable to higher-
than-budgeted print and electronic information services revenue and investment income, as well as
expense savings from staff vacancies and reductions in information technology spending. The
Society also realized $21.0 million in investment gains. In total, unrestricted net assets increased just
over $26 million in 2005 to $211 million, and the Society ended 2005 in full compliance with the Board-
established financial guidelines.
Registration Report
• As of March 28, 2006, the ACS spring national meeting had attracted 12,546 registrants as
follows: Regular attendees 6,323; Students 4,158; Exhibitors 1,288; Exposition only 413; and Guests
364.
Society Initiatives
• Many ACS committees and councilor caucuses discussed and/or provided input into three key
Society initiatives:
1. The Society’s new vision statement: “Improving people’s lives through the transforming power
of chemistry,” which resulted from the input of several thousand ACS members, was unveiled and
discussed at this meeting.
2. The Board-Council Policy Committee Governance Review Task Force was charged with
reviewing the Society’s governance, and Constitution and Bylaws, to ensure that the Society has a
governing framework to enable it to best fulfill its mission, meet member needs, and remain a world-
class organization. The task force developed a framework that emphasized five key elements of the
Society’s governance, which are: membership, geographical organization, disciplinary organization,
governance structure, and governance operations.
3. A Program Review Advisory Group (PRAG) has been established to assist the Committee on
Budget and Finance in reviewing all programs of the Society (with some exemptions) on a periodic and
regular basis. The PRAG consists of councilors, members of the Board of Directors, members of the
Committee on Budget and Finance, and representatives from the committees with oversight over the
programs under review in a given year.
Member Statistics
• ACS closed 2005 with 158,422 members, reversing a 4-year downward trend in Society
membership. Of the 15,532 applications processed in 2005, nearly 900 came from the Member-Get-A-
Member campaign, in which many councilors participated. The membership retention number
remained stable at 92.4%.
Special Discussion
• A special discussion item was put on the Council agenda for this meeting. The discussion
focused on membership – specifically, the requirements for ACS membership, and whether they
should be made more or less restrictive, or kept the same. ACS President E. Ann Nalley invited the co-
chairs of the Board-Council Policy Committee Governance Review Task Force, James D. Burke and
William F. Carroll, to help frame the discussion by presenting the results of a councilor survey on ACS
membership requirements.
2006 Member Dues
• The Council VOTED to set the member dues for 2007 at the fully escalated rate of $132.
Future National Meetings
• The Council VOTED to recommend to the Board of Directors that the spring meeting for 2015
be held in Denver, Colorado, March 22-26; and that the fall meeting be held in Boston,
Massachusetts, August 16-20. The Council also voted to recommend locations and dates for the
2016 meeting as follows: the spring meeting to be held on March 13-17, in San Diego, California; and
the fall meeting to be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on August 21-25.
ACTIONS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The Special Temporary Assessment
• In December 2002, the Board of Directors approved a special temporary assessment to cover
the costs of increased funding for divisions and local sections. This funding increase resulted from
the Petition for Division and Local Section Funding, which was subsequently approved by the ACS
Council, Board, and membership in 2003. The Board enacted the temporary assessment with the
understanding that it would be reviewed each year to determine whether it could be reduced. In light
of the Society’s strong financial performance, the Board VOTED that, rather than enacting the
assessment of $8 scheduled for 2007, that the assessment would be reduced to $4. 2007 is the final
year for the Special Assessment.
The Board’s Committees and Task Forces
• The Board received a report of the screened list of candidates from the Committee on Grants
and Awards for the 2007 Priestley Medal, the Volunteer Service Award, and the Parsons Award. The
Board will announce the winners after its June meeting.
• The Board voted to adopt an amendment to its Regulations that delegates authority to approve
the Society’s National Historic Chemical Landmark designations to the Board’s Committee on Public
Affairs and Public Relations, upon recommendation of the ad hoc Committee on National Historic
Chemical Landmarks.
• The Board also received updates and reports from its Green Chemistry Institute Task Force, the
Board-Council Policy Committee Governance Review Task Force, the Percy Julian Task Force, and
the Contingency Planning Working Group. The Board voted to adopt several recommendations as
presented by its Green Chemistry Institute Task Force.
The Society’s Staff
• The Executive Director/CEO and several of her direct reports updated the Board on an
upcoming workshop on evolving information/technologies and trends, key initiatives related to
Washington information technology - including the Web Presence project - and the activities of
Chemical Abstracts Service, the Publications Division, and the ACS General Counsel.
• The Executive Director/CEO, joined by Dr. Robert Lichter of Merrimack Consultants, reported on
the status of a review of the educational activities at the Society – including those of the ACS
Education Division.
Compensation of the Society’s Executive Staff
• On the recommendation of the Committee on Executive Compensation, the Board 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.
2006 Board Goals
• At the December 2005 meeting, the Board approved its own set of goals and metrics to help
achieve successful implementation of the Society’s strategic plan. At this meeting, the Board received
an update on its progress toward achieving these goals.
The Board’s Activity in the Community
• The Board considered an opportunity to participate in a community building activity in the San
Francisco Bay Area while attending the fall 2006 ACS National Meeting in San Francisco. The activity,
to be planned by local section organizers, focuses on the National Chemistry Week theme: “Your
Home: It’s all Built on Chemistry.” The Board plans to readjust its schedule to allow for participation
by its members.