The 15-member Joint Board-Council Committee on International Activities (IAC) was established by action of the ACS Board of Directors on June 27, 1962 and was upgraded in 1974 to a joint Board-Council Committee. The IAC is responsible for studying and recommending appropriate SOCIETY participation and cooperation in international undertakings pertaining to chemical education, professional activities, and scientific matters of interest to chemists and chemical engineers, and coordinating its efforts with those of other organizations.
The mission of the Committee on International Activities is to assist scientists and engineers worldwide to communicate and collaborate for the good of the chemical and chemically related sciences, chemical engineering, and their practitioners.
Madame President and my Councilor Colleagues:
As the practice of chemistry takes on an increasingly borderless character, IAC continues in efforts to help the Society and its members to be more informed, competitive, and engaged in the global chemistry community
For its meeting in Anaheim, the Committee focused on refining its 2011 strategic goals and arrived at three key areas: to enhance ACS international collaborations furthering chemistry’s role in addressing global challenges; to help extend the Society’s engagements in international education and training, and to extend the excellent historical efforts and to support broader ACS participation in science and human rights
IAC welcomed the leadership including IUPAC, the Federation of Asian Chemical Societies, the German Chemical Society, the Canadian Society of Chemistry, the Royal Society of Chemistry, and the Latin American Federation of Chemical Associations (FLAQ).
IAC also approved petitions to honor the memory of Madame Curie’s contributions to the chemical sciences and to express solidarity with our colleagues in Japan as they work to rebuild in the wake of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami tragedy.
A this year’s ACS National Meeting in Anaheim IAC contributed two successful symposia. The first was Monday on International Collaboration in the Chemical Sciences: Best Practices. The second was Tuesday on Scientific Freedom and Human Rights in the Chemical Sciences. The IAC is looking forward to enhancing its programming efforts in these areas at future meetings
The Committee received reports on ACS contributions to the celebration of the 2011 International Year of Chemistry, the launch of IAC’s new Global Research Experiences, Exchanges and Training (GREET) Program, the 2011 AAAS Meeting in Washington, DC on Science Across Borders, the ACS Younger Chemists Committee’s Engagement in International Exchanges Programs, and the IUPAC 2011 World Congress in Puerto Rico, July 30 – August 7.
Finally, IAC began discussions with the ACS Local Sections Activities Committee and the Committee on Economic and Professional Affairs to explore common interests and priorities in global engagement in service to ACS members.
Please do stop by the IAC International Year of Chemistry table in the back of the room to receive promotional materials and more information about the Society’s IYC 2011 celebrations.
Judith L. Benham
Chair
For more information, please email the ACS Office of International Activities or visit the OIA website.
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