INTERNATIONALCHAPTERS
2004. The chapter
also sponsored the
Chemistry Olym-
piad National Exam
for U. S. high school
students studying
in Hong Kong and
supported the an-
nual Symposium on
The chapter is working with other
chemical societies in the region to organize
speaking tours by chemists. Members of
the Hong Kong chapter are helping orga-
nize symposia for Pacifichem 2010, which
will be held in Honolulu in December. The
chapter is also gearing up for 2011, the
International Year of Chemistry, and will
host activities at various venues in and
around Hong Kong. In addition, chapter
members will give presentations at local
high schools. The chapter is also producing
a bilingual science exhibit that will be dis-
played to the general public.
CAMARADERIE Field
trips are among
the activities
organized by the
Saudi Arabian
International
Chemical Sciences
chapter.
Chemists abroad can find an ACS COMMUNITY in their
own backyard—or they can form their own
IN MARCH, the ACS International Chemical Sciences Chapter in Hungary presented
its inaugural Csaba Horváth Memorial
Lectureship to Barry L. Karger, the James
L. Waters Chair of Analytical Chemistry at
Northeastern University, in Boston. The
ceremony, which was held at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest, honored the memory of Hungarian separation
scientist Csaba Horváth, who pioneered
high-performance liquid chromatography
(HPLC).
The chapter in Hungary is one of three
ACS International Chemical Sciences
Chapters connecting ACS members abroad
and raising awareness of their country’s
contributions to chemistry. ACS has also
chartered chapters in Saudi Arabia and
Hong Kong.
These groups operate much as ACS local
sections in the U.S. do. “Our role is one of
enabling them to do what they want, rather
than trying to tell them what they should
be doing,” says Judith L. Benham, chair of
the ACS International Activities Commit-
tee. “We want to be respectful of the local
or national societies of which they may also
be members.”
ACS’s oldest international chapter is the
Saudi Arabian International Chemical Sci-
ences Chapter, which was founded in 1988.
Chair Ibrahim A. Al-Ghamdi says the chap-
ter currently has more than 600 members.
It hosts monthly technical dinner meetings,
organizes chemistry demonstrations at
high schools, offers field trips for members
and their families, and participates in Earth
Day celebrations. The chapter has also or-
ganized eight international conferences.
THE CHAPTER in Hungary was founded in
2002 and has about 60 members. “The goal
of the chapter is to cultivate a relationship
between chemists in the U. S. and Hungary”
and also to represent the interests of Hungarian chemists living in the U. S., chapter
Chair András Guttman says.
In addition to establishing the Csaba
Horváth Memorial Lectureship, the chapter holds regular meetings for its members,
hosts international conferences, and does
outreach at high schools. Guttman says the
chapter is planning to organize a session
during the ACS fall national meeting in
Boston and will be cosponsoring events for
the International Year of Chemistry with
the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and
the Hungarian Chemical Society.
ACS members who are interested in
establishing an international chapter can
find more information on the ACS International Activities website at www.acs.
org/international (click on “Chapters”).
Several chapters are in various stages of the
application process, says Bradley Miller,
director of the ACS Office of International
Activities.
The International Year of Chemistry in
2011 is an “opportune time” for chemists to
get involved in their communities, Benham
says. “I hope it will rally science professionals to start thinking about how they can
impact the world in a slightly larger way,”
she says.—LINDA WANG
