Yorke Rhodes: Election Statement
An Outstanding ACS Leader
An Outstanding ACS Leader
Who am I ? ACS member, active participant, volunteer, active at many
levels; New York Section, Organic Division, Regional Meeting participant,
Chair for graduate posters at MARM ’05, and Program Chair for MARM ’08
(MARM is Middle Atlantic Regional Meeting). Forty years of presentations
at National meetings and Chairing sessions. I’ve been a six-year member
of Local Section Activities Committee and three-years Chair of LSAC. I
was one of the six-person Board-President Task Force on the Local
Section and Division Funding Petition, approved in 2003, and as LSAC
Chair saw Innovative Projects Fund inaugurated in 2004 bringing new
funding to Local Sections - each section had a new opportunity at $ 3,000
for Innovative Projects. Innovative juices flowed to contribute something
new. As Chair of LSAC, I saw many changes, some witnessed, some I
effected, some I enabled. National Chemistry Week is now part of Office of
Community Activities and not Task Force after fifteen years, Innovative
Project Funds, creation of local section and division planning group for
joint activities and introduction of «Leading Together», a Local Section
newsletter, are examples.
I am one of ACS’ most valuable assets, the VOLUNTEER. We add to
activities of 158,000 members. ACS is a hard-working, smoothly-
functioning staff, all of whom, members and staff, serve members in
sections and divisions. Together, members and staff provide activities
and services to help folks lead programs, stimulate others, promote
chemistry and educate all. I am one of those ACS members with
experience at many levels in ACS and I want to be your President in 2008;
I ask for your vote in this Fall’s election, by ballot or electronically, but
please vote. I want and intend to become a President of, and for, all the
membership.
ACS is more than volunteers. A myriad of committees foster activities.
True, some need sunset review, and Governance Review is working on
that. Change is necessary. Council Policy Committee’s role should be to
focus on issues and policy and not review committee reports. CPC
should live up to its name and reassert itself as a Policy planning and
setting group. Council itself is large, but it is representative – Councilors
need to be activated, inspired to be a creative part. I believe requiring
competitive Councilor elections would increase activity and eliminate
some perpetual Councilors. Term limitations can be effected in many
ways. We’re changing!
Of all the future issues that ACS faces, Education is the most important,
the most threatening problem we face. Who will do chemistry in five, ten,
twenty years? Where are they to come from? Who will educate them?
Where will they work? The number of students entering Science and
Engineering decreases, and foreign students stay home or go to other
countries for graduate education. Without an audience there won’t be a
future American science. We must promote adult education and help our
society understand science, and we need constant attention to congress
to be sure they understand and support issues that are important to us.
Considerable international experience from meetings, international
science visitations, research collaborations and research leaves in
Europe broaden my experience (Germany twice, France). I’m fluent in
German and read French - I’m shocked at how little Americans
understand foreign cultures. It affects our thinking and our policies and
policy making. We need that understanding in our relations.
We must promote chemistry at every level, in all media. (See my
Education statement in JCE) We need new interaction with Elementary,
Middle School and High School Teachers. College currucula need
change. It is our duty to educate the body politic toward science.
Undergraduate research helps students breathe enthusiasm for
chemistry. Our graduate curricula turn out narrow experts. How to bring
general subjects to graduate education without diluting excellence
specialists need? How can we help postdoctoral fellows? Academic
Employment Initiative is great and needs more University support. A
separate Poster Session will be at MARM ’08 for Postdocs. How can ACS
help to support the new graduates in their first years in academe or
industry? We need to work together with industry. I will appoint
Education Task Forces to work on solving these problems which
seriously affect our future.
We have a lot to do. I’m optimistic and enthusiastic about promoting and
effecting change. We’re good and we can grow and improve more. I
request your vote for Yorke Rhodes for President-Elect 2007 and I’ll be
happy to serve and be your advocate as President of our society.
levels; New York Section, Organic Division, Regional Meeting participant,
Chair for graduate posters at MARM ’05, and Program Chair for MARM ’08
(MARM is Middle Atlantic Regional Meeting). Forty years of presentations
at National meetings and Chairing sessions. I’ve been a six-year member
of Local Section Activities Committee and three-years Chair of LSAC. I
was one of the six-person Board-President Task Force on the Local
Section and Division Funding Petition, approved in 2003, and as LSAC
Chair saw Innovative Projects Fund inaugurated in 2004 bringing new
funding to Local Sections - each section had a new opportunity at $ 3,000
for Innovative Projects. Innovative juices flowed to contribute something
new. As Chair of LSAC, I saw many changes, some witnessed, some I
effected, some I enabled. National Chemistry Week is now part of Office of
Community Activities and not Task Force after fifteen years, Innovative
Project Funds, creation of local section and division planning group for
joint activities and introduction of «Leading Together», a Local Section
newsletter, are examples.
I am one of ACS’ most valuable assets, the VOLUNTEER. We add to
activities of 158,000 members. ACS is a hard-working, smoothly-
functioning staff, all of whom, members and staff, serve members in
sections and divisions. Together, members and staff provide activities
and services to help folks lead programs, stimulate others, promote
chemistry and educate all. I am one of those ACS members with
experience at many levels in ACS and I want to be your President in 2008;
I ask for your vote in this Fall’s election, by ballot or electronically, but
please vote. I want and intend to become a President of, and for, all the
membership.
ACS is more than volunteers. A myriad of committees foster activities.
True, some need sunset review, and Governance Review is working on
that. Change is necessary. Council Policy Committee’s role should be to
focus on issues and policy and not review committee reports. CPC
should live up to its name and reassert itself as a Policy planning and
setting group. Council itself is large, but it is representative – Councilors
need to be activated, inspired to be a creative part. I believe requiring
competitive Councilor elections would increase activity and eliminate
some perpetual Councilors. Term limitations can be effected in many
ways. We’re changing!
Of all the future issues that ACS faces, Education is the most important,
the most threatening problem we face. Who will do chemistry in five, ten,
twenty years? Where are they to come from? Who will educate them?
Where will they work? The number of students entering Science and
Engineering decreases, and foreign students stay home or go to other
countries for graduate education. Without an audience there won’t be a
future American science. We must promote adult education and help our
society understand science, and we need constant attention to congress
to be sure they understand and support issues that are important to us.
Considerable international experience from meetings, international
science visitations, research collaborations and research leaves in
Europe broaden my experience (Germany twice, France). I’m fluent in
German and read French - I’m shocked at how little Americans
understand foreign cultures. It affects our thinking and our policies and
policy making. We need that understanding in our relations.
We must promote chemistry at every level, in all media. (See my
Education statement in JCE) We need new interaction with Elementary,
Middle School and High School Teachers. College currucula need
change. It is our duty to educate the body politic toward science.
Undergraduate research helps students breathe enthusiasm for
chemistry. Our graduate curricula turn out narrow experts. How to bring
general subjects to graduate education without diluting excellence
specialists need? How can we help postdoctoral fellows? Academic
Employment Initiative is great and needs more University support. A
separate Poster Session will be at MARM ’08 for Postdocs. How can ACS
help to support the new graduates in their first years in academe or
industry? We need to work together with industry. I will appoint
Education Task Forces to work on solving these problems which
seriously affect our future.
We have a lot to do. I’m optimistic and enthusiastic about promoting and
effecting change. We’re good and we can grow and improve more. I
request your vote for Yorke Rhodes for President-Elect 2007 and I’ll be
happy to serve and be your advocate as President of our society.
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| JC Martin's retirement party at Vanderbilt in 1992. How many chemists can you identify? Yorke is on the right in the blue shirt. |
| Wow, that is big! |
| As introducer of friend Madeline Joullie at a seminar at Manhattan College |
| Preparing to introduce Roald Hoffman at a New York section-wide annual January meeting |
Connecting Past Traditions to the Future
to Meet The Challenges of the 21st Century
I am an optimistic enthusiast for chemistry and ready to stimulate interest in chemistry wherever I
can speak. Whether it be at National, Regional, or Local Section meetings, to congress or state
legislatures, to other science societies, to high schools, middle and elementary schools, to
youngsters of all ages. We have wonderful stories to tell and tell them everywhere, we must. I will
be an advocate for our society, for the sciences, and for you, wherever you are. And I can’t do it
all, so I’m going to ask all of you to work. We must reach out to all levels in our broader society to
tell «The Chemistry Story », in whatever form and format you may choose. Think High Schools,
Community Groups, Town Boards of Education
Chemistry is Change. Life Changes for us all.
ACS needs to Change, more quickly!
We all need to be advocates for chemistry, advocates for science, for industry, for education.
There are promising new approaches for teaching first-year college students unified, integrated
science courses (C&EN, July 17, 2006, p.43). We must bring excitement to our beginning
courses. We have more students involved in research-based learning in colleges, in inquiry-
based learning in high schools (SEED and others), and we need to develop more discovery-
based studies for elementary and middle schools. My seventh grade science teacher instilled
interest in astronomy and many years later, I research in «Astrochemistry». Invite me as a Tour
Speaker – I’ve spoken at 90 Local Sections in the last ten years and as President I plan to speak
to more. We need new students for the development of the future of science.
We need stronger outreach to minority groups, to promote women scientists, to utilize senior
chemists (Silver Circle) to our and their advantage, and to assist the employment of foreign-born
scientists resident here. Local Sections and Divisions have enhanced finances as a result of my
activity with six others on the President-Board Task Force for Funding. I believe Section’s and
Division’s strength and activities can be enhanced by visitations from members, officers and
staff. I will propose regular visits to promote activity in new areas and modes. We all have so
much to give and there are so many issues that need action. I want to be the Action-President of
chemist-scientists for all of you. Please cast your vote for Yorke Rhodes for President-Elect
2007. Your vote does count more than you think, because only about 15% of you vote.
to Meet The Challenges of the 21st Century
I am an optimistic enthusiast for chemistry and ready to stimulate interest in chemistry wherever I
can speak. Whether it be at National, Regional, or Local Section meetings, to congress or state
legislatures, to other science societies, to high schools, middle and elementary schools, to
youngsters of all ages. We have wonderful stories to tell and tell them everywhere, we must. I will
be an advocate for our society, for the sciences, and for you, wherever you are. And I can’t do it
all, so I’m going to ask all of you to work. We must reach out to all levels in our broader society to
tell «The Chemistry Story », in whatever form and format you may choose. Think High Schools,
Community Groups, Town Boards of Education
Chemistry is Change. Life Changes for us all.
ACS needs to Change, more quickly!
We all need to be advocates for chemistry, advocates for science, for industry, for education.
There are promising new approaches for teaching first-year college students unified, integrated
science courses (C&EN, July 17, 2006, p.43). We must bring excitement to our beginning
courses. We have more students involved in research-based learning in colleges, in inquiry-
based learning in high schools (SEED and others), and we need to develop more discovery-
based studies for elementary and middle schools. My seventh grade science teacher instilled
interest in astronomy and many years later, I research in «Astrochemistry». Invite me as a Tour
Speaker – I’ve spoken at 90 Local Sections in the last ten years and as President I plan to speak
to more. We need new students for the development of the future of science.
We need stronger outreach to minority groups, to promote women scientists, to utilize senior
chemists (Silver Circle) to our and their advantage, and to assist the employment of foreign-born
scientists resident here. Local Sections and Divisions have enhanced finances as a result of my
activity with six others on the President-Board Task Force for Funding. I believe Section’s and
Division’s strength and activities can be enhanced by visitations from members, officers and
staff. I will propose regular visits to promote activity in new areas and modes. We all have so
much to give and there are so many issues that need action. I want to be the Action-President of
chemist-scientists for all of you. Please cast your vote for Yorke Rhodes for President-Elect
2007. Your vote does count more than you think, because only about 15% of you vote.