Message from 2019 Chair Amjad Ali

To members of the North Jersey Section:

It is a great pleasure and honor for me to serve as the Chair of the North Jersey Section of the ACS for 2019.

I would like to thank the officers and volunteers in North Jersey who have made our section one of the most dynamic sections within the ACS. I look forward to working with this dedicated and creative group to continue to promote the NJACS mission of “Enhancing the lives of its members and the community through the transforming power of chemistry”.

The North Jersey Section is the home of many diverse topical groups and committees that are comprised of talented scientists in the interdisciplinary fields of chemistry including the Mass Spectrometry Discussion Group, Drug Metabolism Discussion Group, Chromatography Group, NMR Discussion Group, Organic Topical Group, Teacher Affiliates, Woman Chemists Committee (WCC), Younger Chemists Committee (YCC), Senior Chemists Committee (SCC) and Careers in Transition Committee. These groups offer exciting seminars, symposia, and events throughout the year; which provide unique opportunities for continuous education and networking. The section will also host the Leo Hendrik Baekeland Award Symposium in late 2019.

The North Jersey Section will continue with its numerous public outreach programs including Project SEED, National Chemistry Week, and the Chemistry Olympiad. Additionally, this section has strengthened its partnership with Students 2 Science, a non-profit corporation that inspires, motivates, and educates primarily Middle and High School Students to pursue careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM subjects). We will continue with the popular ChemExpo as well as with Community Nights at the Liberty Science Center (LSC) and hope to expand joint undertakings both with LSC and the Edison Museum, which we helped establish as a National Historic Chemical Landmark in 2014 and where we participate in their Edison Day. Another important activity is the New Jersey Chemistry Olympics hosted and run by NJIT. In addition, we plan to introduce “Science Cafés” to the community as a new public outreach activity in 2019.

I have been an active member of the North Jersey section of the ACS for over 15 years, revitalizing the organic topical group (OTG) and serving as Chair of the group twice over the last several years. I am an ACS Fellow as well as the Merck representative for the ACS Scholars program, Project SEED, the Hershberg National ACS award and have served as alternate industrial councilor for the ACS MEDI division. I am a supporter and have served as liaison for the Merck WCC program, which currently sponsors a number of outstanding women chemists in academia. The Section has recently developed its Strategic Plan and I am thrilled to be able to initiate this plan during my tenure as Chair. One of our goals will be to promote membership and engagement in NJACS through the increased use of social media tools such as LinkedIn, Twitter etc. I believe by doing so we will be enhancing the lives of our members and the community through the transforming power of Chemistry. As Chair, I will use my experiences and passion for Chemistry to assure the continued success of the North Jersey ACS. I would like to thank you for your continued support.

Amjad Ali
2019 Chair, North Jersey Section ACS
amjad_ali@merck.com

✎