3-minute speech before the ACS Council
300-word statement
"Science Studio" radio show

 

DOING OUR BEST FOR ACS AND FOR SOCIETY

  Bassam Z. Shakhashiri

 

I seek your vote and your help so we can together sustain ACS as the world’s leading scientific organization.  I am ready, willing, and able to accept the challenges and responsibilities of the presidency of the American Chemical Society.

 

ACS is a membership organization. 
ACS must continue to nurture its members and to advance the professional status of chemists everywhere. I want members to flourish scientifically and economically. When the chemical industries decline, so will our jobs. When our members face professional challenges—especially unemployment—we have a responsibility to help. ACS must continue to work for the betterment of the total chemistry enterprise—academic, industrial and governmental. ACS has great resiliency and the capacity to adapt its programs and services to the rapidly changing world of science and technology. Change requires leadership with vision, focus, enthusiasm, care, and respect.

 

Chemistry and society
We live in the most advanced scientific and technological society in history. New discoveries have led to improvements and benefits in our daily lives, but also to new societal problems. ACS and its members can make major contributions to improve the quality of life in America and to advance the human condition around the globe. Chemistry is the key to eradicating disease and reducing poverty. Our research and our technology can provide clean water and nutritious food, meet energy demands, and help lead to sustainable development everywhere. And, just as important, chemists can help society develop the will to improve the quality of life on the planet.

Chemistry brings a wide range of goods and functions to everyone and thus is vital to our democracy. Science literacy is necessary for the democratic process to work. By science literacy I mean an appreciation of science, an understanding of the benefits of technology and the potential rewards and risks associated with advances in both, as well as a recognition of what science is capable of achieving and what it cannot accomplish. Science literacy enlightens and enables people to make informed choices; to be skeptical; to reject shams, quackery, and unproven conjecture; and to avoid being bamboozled into making foolish decisions where matters of science and technology are concerned. Science literacy is for everyone--chemists, artists, humanists, all professionals, the general public, youth and adults alike. The level of science literacy in any society is a measure of what it values and its resolve to put these values into practice.

Throughout my career I have promoted chemistry both as the central science and as the familiar science. The familiarity of chemistry has yet to be fully exploited in reaching all segments of society. We must increase awareness of chemicals, their transformations, and how their wise use benefits our health, safety, and environment. ACS must expand its role in leading all scientific groups in communicating the value of science and technology to the public at large and to the decision makers in government and the private sector.

The ACS president is the most visible advocate for the chemical sciences. I want to devote my presidency to showcasing chemistry at its best in addressing significant societal concerns. I have the experience of thinking about and acting on these important aspects of chemistry.  During my six years as assistant director at the National Science Foundation our record was second to none in advocating new program opportunities for research and education and in securing the necessary funds from the White House and from Congress.

 

What’s important?
ACS is poised to select and pursue a bold agenda focusing on what it does best for its members and for society. As ACS president, I will work with you to:

·         maintain the preeminence of ACS

·         strengthen ACS core functions through its publications, meetings, divisions, and sections

·         focus on employment and workforce needs

·         enhance the quality and supply of teachers

·         increase public and private support for research and education

·         promote green chemistry and sustainable development

·         address national security issues, including foreign scientist visas

·         foster international cooperation and collaboration in research and in education

·         improve scientific communications within and among various cultures