Candidates for Chair-Elect
Benjamin Garcia, Washington University School of Medicine, ACS Member Since 2020
Election Statement: It is truly an honor to be nominated for Chair-Elect of the ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry (ANYL). ACS was the first organization I joined as an undergraduate, where I was named an ACS Scholar in 1999, and first presented my research at a national meeting after receiving the ANYL Kolthoff enrichment award. After I entered graduate school, I became more involved in other scientific societies such as with ASMS and HUPO, but did attend some ACS meetings. In the last few years, I have returned to my scientific roots having gotten heavily involved in the ANYL where I am currently an Alternate Councilor, on the Educational Committee and also Chair the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Respect Committee. I have also been very active in organizing various diversity or scientific ANYL sessions (e.g. Advances in Mass Spectrometry) for the ACS meetings, and also served on the ANYL long-ranging planning committee as well. In the broader ACS, presently I am an ACS Connects Mentor and also review for the ACS Scholars Program. At this point in my career, my only professional objective is to serve our scientific community, especially to help launch the careers of our younger and diverse scientists. If elected, my plans include to grow excitement and membership in ANYL by creating new sub-divisions in electrochemistry, spectroscopy and mass spectrometry (joining the only current sub-division in chromatography) to more directly serve the specific needs of our division scientists, but at the same time working together towards the greater ANYL goals of promoting analytical chemistry across all levels and scientific areas. My hope is to continue to evolve the ANYL to meet the increasing challenges and expectations of our diverse analytical community to broaden personal and professional development.
Mark A. Hayes, Arizona State University, ACS Member Since 1979
Election Statement: I would like to continue to serve the Analytical Division. My involvement in the Division has grown from a liaison for the FACSS/SciX community to a leadership role for the Sub-Division on Chromatography and Chemical Separations. I have learned what most already knew: the leaders of the Division are talented and energetic people working for the betterment of our profession and each other. There is already a significant bandwidth of activities along with infrastructure and resources to explore new opportunities. The current executive leadership team gets along exceedingly well. So, I want to be a part of that team. I want to help the Division with its challenges, identify and exploit new opportunities while keeping our traditions alive. What are the challenges, opportunities, and traditions? The major challenge facing us today is the drop in membership. The executive team is well aware of this and is actively investigating the causes and possible solutions. Having been a small part of these discussions, I will be volunteering for the Membership Chair to begin to help immediately. If elected Chair, I will work to ensure continuity and execution of the resulting plans. Core elements of Chair Zangmeister’s exploration of the problem is defining who our current ‘market’ is and how to reach them. The major opportunity I see is a re-examination of what an ‘Analytical Chemist’ is and what role they play in our profession and our society. I am reading a brilliant A-page article from 1970 (Kaiser p24A, v42(2)) which touches on the role of our profession in the analysis of moon rocks. It is a fascinating read. One element that struck me was the apparent boundaries for the role of the Analytical Chemist. When I look around the leadership of the Division and understand the authorship of our ANYL-associated journal articles, we are anything but bounded. We have a large ranges of roles, responsibilities, interests and backgrounds even though we are trained and think of ourselves as Analytical Chemists. Engineers, biologists and medical researchers (among others, of course) are all part of our community, learning from the foundations of analytics and applying the concepts in new and important ways. We need to embrace the community as it stands, not as it was. The 84-year history of our Division is strong on tradition. We are part of the second oldest professional society in America, founded in 1876—losing out by a few years to American Society of Civil Engineers (1852).* Traditions include organizing or supporting professional meetings, providing professional recognition (awards), supporting scholarly journals, setting standards of our profession, generating and supporting networking and mentoring, and promoting our profession. I hope to continue these important activities and enhance those which need updating. I note that, antithetical to some ‘traditions’, an important part of our activities will be inclusion and not exclusion. I would appreciate the opportunity to serve this important community as Chair. I believe that I am well qualified to support and grow the Division. I have demonstrated a capability to lead through difficult times and to expand to fill opportunities as they present themselves. I am very much a team member but want to change and grow our profession. I envision working very closely with Chair Zangmeister, Program Chair Cavinato and Chair-Elect Biba to develop realistic but aggressive plans which can be updated and executed when my one-year Chairmanship arrives. I note this because most significant activities cannot be accomplished in a single year. The four-year commitment required by this position structurally ensures continuity and provides an opportunity to attack larger projects. Thanks for reading. I look forward to continuing to work with you. * https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/11153/chapter/9
Candidate for Treasurer
Adam T. Woolley, Brigham Young University, ACS Member Since 1996
Election Statement: During my service as Treasurer, I have worked effectively with the Division Leadership to manage the finances wisely. I have implemented policies and procedures to ensure that expenses and revenue are in balance, resulting in a net budget surplus over the past several years, despite significant challenges from the coronavirus pandemic. In 2021 I helped the Division roll out Younger Chemist Travel Awards to fund early career professionals who present their work at an ACS Meeting or other relevant conference. I plan to continue using our Division funds in support of programming at national and regional meetings, awards, graduate student fellowships, and student presenters at conferences. I am grateful for your vote to continue serving as our Division Treasurer.
Candidates for Councilor
Kimberly Agnew-Heard, Altria Client Services, ACS Member Since 1995
Election Statement: It will be a privilege to be elected to serve on the ANYL Executive Committee as Councilor again. My first experience was in 2011, which eventually led to being elected Chair of the Division. During this time, I was the Nomination Committee lead (2020-2021), Strategic Planning co-lead (2019-2021), Facebook page editor (2011-2018), and was instrumental in setting up several formal committees within the ANYL. The Division is moving in a positive direction by advocating for diversity, equity, inclusion, and respect, the advancement of Analytical Chemistry, and its members. ANYL consists of multidisciplinary scientists working in a variety of fields and in many different capacities as students, career professionals, and retirees from academia, governmental agencies, and private industries. Active engagement of past, current, and future members is extremely important to the success of ANYL. If elected, I will continue to augment and advance the Division’s goals to actively serve its members.
Michelle Buchanan, DOE Office of Science, ACS Member Since 1978
Election Statement: The Division of Analytical Chemistry (DAC) has a broad impact within the ACS as it works with other divisions to address areas of global importance, such as energy and the environment. As Councilor for DAC, I have worked to integrate analytical chemistry into ACS activities, including organizing the technical program focused on Energy for the Spring 2014 meeting in Dallas, Texas. I have also organized several ACS Presidential Symposia that brought key science leaders from Federal funding offices to national ACS meetings. I have also worked on the national level with the Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, and other agencies to promote the development of new analytical capabilities to drive and support new technologies for energy, sustainability, health, and security. The ACS provides a way to reach out to other disciplines and chemical societies to address these global issues. I am committed to maintaining the prominence of analytical chemistry in the ACS and at the national level.
Joel M. Harris, University of Utah, ACS Member Since 1974
Election Statement: Members of the ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry are offered numerous professional services by the American Chemical Society, through national and regional meetings, awards and professional recognition, scientific publications, outreach and educational activities, and networking. It is important that the governance of the ACS be aware of the specific needs and interests of analytical chemists, and how their programs can support our rapidly advancing discipline. As an ACS Councilor, I would focus my attention the relationship between the Analytical Division and the ACS, and how the ACS can better serve our discipline. Key issues include the allocation of financial resources to our division, assignment of session space at national meetings, support of national awards, and policies that impact our members including dues, meeting registration costs, and member benefits. As Councilor, I would also serve as a member of the Analytical Division Executive Committee, where I would promote growth of our membership and strong programming at national meetings.
Susan V. Olesik, Ohio State University, ACS Member Since 1976
Election Statement: I am most grateful to have served my fellow analytical chemists for four years as councilor. I have a broad background in Analytical Chemistry that I feel is quite valuable in the role as councilor. There is much re-envisioning happening in the ACS on how to represent our membership best. I have learned much about the importance of the role of councilor and as a council-elected member of ConC, I have learned much about the society’s committee structures. I feel that will be able to strongly represent the analytical chemistry community on the council and on ConC based on this background. Analytical chemists are important members of the ACS and we need to contribute at every possible level of the society.
Charles Wilkins, University of Arkansas (retired), ACS Member Since 1962
Election Statement: I strongly support the recent ACS decision in the interest of expanded society committee participation to open membership in society committees to interested ACS members. This move potentially will go a long way toward addressing the society-wide trend in membership decline. In my view, declines over the past several years are a particularly troubling problem for the Analytical Chemistry Division and we should devote considerable effort to making Division membership attractive to the new generation of analytical chemists.