to job listings, the ACS Career Consultant Program and a plethora of electronic career advice publications. Electronic resources from the Education and Membership and Scientific Advancement Divisions as well as articles from Chemical & Engineering News are also available.

The Internet also was a vital tool for ACS President Catherine T. (Katie) Hunt, who created a Web site for the Office of the ACS President. This new site, www.acspresident.org, previewed presidential events and promoted thematic programming for the ACS national meetings. The site also featured video highlights from two presidential symposia — “ Sustainability of Energy, Food and Water” and “Material Innovations, from Nanotechnology to Biotechnology and Beyond!” — presented at 2007 ACS national meetings in Chicago and Boston.

President Hunt focused much of her efforts on sustainability and other emerging global challenges. She joined with other scientific society presidents worldwide in crafting and signing a pledge to “work together to promote global sustainable development, demand responsible use of resources, and ensure that the next generation of scientists protects and maintains the well-being of Earth and its inhabitants.” ACS President-elect Bruce Bursten supports this pledge and plans to build on his predecessor’s achievements in 2008, stressing the importance of education and more effectively communicating the beauty, value and centrality of chemistry to policy makers and the general public.

President Hunt also formed an ACS Task Force on Enhancing Innovation and Competitiveness. The goal of this task force is to evaluate and recommend new, innovative advocacy processes and tools to even more effectively communicate the importance of science and technology to our everyday lives. In addition, she testified before Congress and spent countless hours discussing vital scientific issues with the public, industry leaders and the media.

In her Congressional testimony and her media appearances — including an hour on National Public Radio’s Science Friday with Ira Flatow — President Hunt’s message was straightforward and compelling: chemistry is at a crossroads. As a nation, it’s time for us, she said, to reignite our commitment to science and technology. As a Society, it’s time for us to promote science and technology on the local and national stage, from championing research investment to building technology partnerships, and from mentoring students to promoting science fairs. As scientists, it’s time for us to collaborate, forming a vibrant and vocal technical community. As individuals, it’s time for us to innovate, recreating our companies, our universities/schools and ourselves. And as always, our membership is a driving force in each of these efforts.

 

Membership helps pass America COMPETES Act For the second consecutive year, ACS membership exceeded 160,000. And these members made their voices heard in an important 2007 legisla-

tive effort: the America COMPETES Act signed by President George W. Bush in August. This milestone legislation will bolster U.S. innovation and foster global competitiveness. The act brought together various pieces of legislation dealing with federal research and development as well as science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education into a comprehensive bill. Passage of the act culminated two years of sharply focused ACS advocacy. That effort included 41 ACS Presidential letters to the White House and Capitol Hill, 75 meetings between local section members and their congressional representatives, 167 meetings of ACS governance with congressman and senators, 250 ACS staff meetings with congressional offices, and 21,370 ACS Legislative Action Network Letters to elected officials. Like her predecessors, ACS President Hunt played a vital leadership role in bringing together the science, technology, business and education communities in support of America COMPETES and in communicating the importance of funding scientific research and education to our nation’s leaders. Overall, this was an extraordinary advocacy effort and achievement for ACS and its members.

ACS members substantially increased their advocacy efforts to promote other key legislative priorities. More than 14,000 members participated in the ACS Legislative Action Network, sending 13,030 letters to elected officials in 2007. In addition, 85 ACS members, representing 39 local sections, participated in 150 congressional office visits.