| NEWS OF THE WEEK
Volume 79, Number 1 CENEAR 79 1 p. ISSN 0009-2347 |
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Honolulu in December was the site of Pacifichem 2000, the International Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies. The conference drew more than 9,000 participants from 58 countries who delivered 8,100 papers, breaking all previous Pacifichem records. This was the fourth meeting of the international conference, which is held every five years and sponsored by chemical societies from the U.S., Japan, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. This year, as in 1995, the program formally opened with a traditional Hawaiian chant by John Kumu Keolo Lake, professor of Hawaiian languages at Chaminade University. The procession of members of the organizing committee was followed by gracious welcomes from representatives of sponsoring organizations.
A highlight of the meeting was the Glenn T. Seaborg Pacifichem Plenary Lecture by Columbia University chemistry professor and past ACS president Ronald Breslow. Hiizu Iwamura, president-elect of the Chemical Society of Japan and vice chairman of the Pacifichem Organizing Committee, explained that the committee decided to hold a special evening to mark the advent of the new millennium in honor of Seaborg because he was not only "a giant in chemistry but also a driving force in the creation of Pacifichem." Before a standing-room-only crowd of more than 1,500 attendees, Breslow spoke on "The Glorious Future of Chemistry." As cochairman of a new National Research Council study on "Goals, Opportunities, and Challenges for Chemistry and Chemical Engineering," he gave a preview of the report, noting that chemistry is a unique science because it involves not only discovery, but creation as well. The report will emphasize the "huge number of things to work on where chemistry can make a contribution" to basic discovery as well as to bettering the human condition, he said.
Pacifichem was marred by the tragic death on Dec. 12, 2000, of internationally known polymer chemist Sukant K. Tripathy, who was attending the POLY Millennial 2000 meeting on the island of Hawaii. A professor of chemistry at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, Tripathy, 48, was swimming with associates when he got caught in a rip tide and drowned. (C&EN will run an obituary of Tripathy in an upcoming issue.) During its meeting at Pacifichem, the ACS Board of Directors named Nina I. McClelland, president of Nina I. McClelland llc, as its chair. The Board Committee on Professional & Member Relations reported that as of Dec. 11, 2000, the total membership of ACS was 162,011 and that new programs have ensured a retention rate of 94%. The Society Committee on Budget & Finance (B&F) reported that it anticipates the society will end the year 2000 with ACS core programs contributing $7.1 million to reserves. On B&F's recommendation, the board approved the 2001 ACS budget with revenues of $361.8 million and expenses of $368.5 million.
Chemical & Engineering News
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