How has ACS helped you?

“After coordinating National Chemistry Week and other community events for a couple of years, my husband asked me why I wasn’t doing these events as my career instead of the position I had in industry, which did not bring me the intense pleasure that doing the hands-on activities with kids brought me. So I reminded him that my job in industry actually paid me, and my efforts within ACS were all volunteering. But ever so slowly I came to the realization that these NCW events were something I had to do all year round. Today I am an elementary school science teacher who has the privilege of doing hands-on science activities with kids everyday. Without ACS, I dare say I would have continued my job in industry and probably done just fine, but would not have found my bliss.”
Jill Rockwood, science teacher, Montessori Children's House, Peoria, Ill. She is a 10-year ACS member.

“I was interviewing for my first supervisory position. I had never had any direct reports prior to this job and it was a laboratory manager position of a laboratory with 56 employees. The interviewer asked the question – how do you know that you can take on this role if you have never managed people before? Because of my leadership positions in the ACS- committee chair and local section chair- I was able to reply that I had leadership positions before and these volunteer organizations did the following during the time that I was in those positions. The experience that ACS provided me directly impacted my getting the job.”
Frankie Wood-Black, Senior Air Professional, Trihydro Corporation, Ponca City, Okla.; 21-year ACS member.

“ACS has been instrumental in my professional development. Through my work in some Committees [CCA, SOCED], I have the opportunity to communicate my point of views as an ACS member and a Hispanic, to contribute to their work, to know and work with many people that otherwise I had never known. ACS has taught me many things!”
Ingrid Montes, Professor of Chemistry, University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras, San Juan. She is a 28-year ACS member.

“The ACS has been a tremendous asset to my life as a chemist. Financially, ACS partially sponsored my undergraduate education and allowed me to travel to the national meetings. Chemjobs through ACS has also been of great benefit to me. Through Chemjobs, I interviewed at one of the conferences and received two job offers.”
Sylvester Mosley, former ACS Scholar; Postdoctoral Research Associate, U.S. Food & Drug Administration, Bethesda, Md. He is a 4-year ACS member.

“My students have benefited tremendously by the opportunity to present research at national meetings. To them, this is often what triggers their interest in chemistry as a career, not just a course subject.”
Preston MacDougall, Associate Professor of Chemistry, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Tenn.; 13-year ACS member

“The benefits of being in ACS are without number to tell you the truth. The leadership training you get at the local, regional and national levels is incredible and makes a big difference. Learning how to plan a national awards symposium and pulling it off without a hitch. Those are skills you can take back to the workplace.”
Janet Bryant, Scientist/Engineer IV, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Wash. She is a 12-year ACS member.

“When the opportunity to go to Cornell University came along I certainly wouldn’t have been able to go if it hadn’t of been for support from organizations like the ACS Scholar Program. ACS support enabled me to live up to the potential that I had.”
Mary Carmen Gasco-Buisson, former ACS Scholar; Brand Manager, Olay Global Design, Procter & Gamble, Cincinnati, Ohio. She is a 12-year ACS member.

“ACS programs, especially for high school teachers, have been invaluable. The High School programs held at each national meeting are a great time to recharge your batteries, by hearing about new resources to use and just chatting with other teachers. The new ACS ChemClub program is fantastic. The organizers provide great (and free!) resources that help bring together high school students to experience chemistry outside of regular class time.”
Erica Jacobsen, Secondary School Chemistry Education Editor, Journal of Chemical Education, The Dalles, Ore. She is a 4-year ACS member.

“The ACS Petroleum Research Fund was the first funding agency that I got funded from as an independent faculty. That was a really critical step on my way to an independent research career in the USA. I am very grateful to PRF that they supported me.”
Andrei N. Vedernikov, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Maryland, College Park. He is a 10-year ACS member.

“Almost two decades of teaching ACS ChemCom have been fulfilling, satisfying, and exciting for me, my students, and my community. ACS has encouraged me and other high school chemistry teachers to become involved in the processes of reviewing, brainstorming, writing, and sharing this curriculum with colleagues during summer workshops.”
Barbara Pressey Sitzman, ChemCom and Advanced Placement chemistry teacher, Granada Hills Charter High School, Granada Hills, Calif. She is an 11-year ACS member.