Message from 2012 Chair Amber Flynn Charlebois

My fellow members of the NJ ACS,

I am truly honored to serve as the Chair of the North Jersey Section (NJ ACS) for 2012. It amazes me how the officers and volunteers in North Jersey have made our Section one of the most dynamic within the ACS and I look forward to working with this dedicated and creative group to continue in our support of the ACS mission: “Improving people’s lives through the transforming power of chemistry.”

The North Jersey Section is lucky to have so many active topical groups and committees, including the Mass Spectrometry Discussion Group, Chromatography Group, Organic Topical Group, Teacher Affiliates, NMR Topical Group, MetroWomen Chemists Committee, Younger Chemists Committee, and the most recent addition, the NJ Regulatory CMC and Quality Topical Group. Because these groups offer top-notch pro- gramming throughout the year, the section has numerous unique events being planned for 2012. In addition, the section will host the Chemistry as a Life Science Symposium XV in March 2012 at Rutgers. In response to the economic downturn, our Careers In Transition Committee will continue their monthly meetings, in order to assist our members with their employment needs. Finally, we will continue our public outreach activities such as Project SEED, National Chemistry Week, and the Chemistry Olympiad.

As Chair of the Section, I will forge a stronger bond between industrial and academic chemists so that we can develop ways of better preparing future chemists for the chemi- cal and pharmaceutical industries. I will also try to keep the wide-ranging and valuable activities of the Section in the national spotlight, so that we get the recognition we deserve for the efforts of our wonderfully dedicated members and volunteers. In addition, I will reach out to undergraduate student members at all North Jersey colleges and universi- ties and encourage them to take advantage of the local section’s topical groups and other programs, and the activities of the ACS as a whole.

As we move into 2012, I ask that you consider getting more involved in the North Jersey ACS and I encourage you to contact me with any thoughts, ideas and/or suggestions you may have for the section.

Amber Flynn Charlebois, PhD
2012 Chair, North Jersey Section ACS
charleb@fdu.edu

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