ACS News
Chemist's responsibility as professional aired
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C&ENNov. 30, 1981
The topic was vast—the many facets of professionalism in chemistry. The time was limited, one evening and one working day. And the group was quite small, about 30 representatives of industry, academia, and government. So, in many ways, not too much could be expected from ACS president Albert C. Zettlemoyer's conference on this topic in Arlington, Va., earlier this month. But former chairman of the ACS Board of Directors Milton Harris, who chaired the gathering, summed it up by saying that it had shed more light and less heat on the subject than did earlier meetings over the past decade. One major theme that did develop was that of the responsibilities that go with professionalism—the responsibilities of professionals to themselves, their profession, their employers, and society at large. One of the recommendations made during the closing session of the meeting was that ACS should encourage greater dialogue among its members on professional responsibility. Keynote speaker Edward Donley, chairman of Air Products & Chemicals, stressed that in an increasingly technological world it is the responsibility of chemists and other scientific professionals to be involved in strategic decision making by corporations and by society at large. As he put it, "Stringing molecules together is no longer enough." Scientists must be willing to bring their disciplined approach to decision making and corporations must be organized to enable them to do sol Daniel Berg, provost for science & technology at Carnegie-Mellon University, also stressed that chemists have an obligation to share the truth as they see it in a society that is largely technologically illiterate. He sees this as becoming increasingly important, especially as the present deterioration in grade and high school science education begins to have an impact. John P. McCullough, vice president of Mobil Research & Development Corp., also examined the issue of professional responsibility. In assessing professionals' responsibilities to themselves he said that they should assess their personal goals and their compatibility with employer objec-
Zettlemoyer: dialogue encouraged
tives. Also, and perhaps more important, they should volunteer and initiate actions under employers' career development plans. And they should invite teamwork when needed, seek excellence in work, realistically assess their accomplishments, and meet high standards of personal ethics. The group also discussed the responsibility of chemists to their profession. The consensus was that this seems to be somewhat on the wane. William J. Bailey, current chairman of the ACS Board, pointed out that only about half the chemists in the
country are ACS members. Zettlemoyer enlarged on this. He related that his meetings with chairmen of chemistry departments to encourage ACS membership have not met with much success because he has run into the what's-in-it-for-me attitude. Harris suggests that this may mean that the society should rethink its goals, something that companies and universities are having to do in what he calls "this period of soul searching generally." Another theme that came out of the meeting was a widespread feeling of disquiet about science education—the underpinning for professionalism. It was suggested that ACS increase its involvement with chemistry in the high schools. Alvin L. Kwiram, chairman of the chemistry department at the University of Washington, outlined the deteriorating situation of chemistry faculty members. He pointed out that many of the positive factors that traditionally have attracted high-caliber scientists into academic careers are eroding rapidly under fiscal and other pressures. For instance, the joys of teaching and working with young people are losing some of their luster as classes get larger and the caliber of students dips. Freedom and independence are declining in face of the demand for quick publication of results and the pressures of finding research funding. And, as he put it, "Even tenure loses its appeal if the state can't pay your salary." D
ACS supports two new bills on patent rights The American Chemical Society believes that innovation will be aided by a uniform government policy for patents resulting from federally funded R&D, provided such a policy encourages the commercial development of inventions. S. 1657, the Uniform Science & Technology Research & Development Utilization Act, and its House counterpart, H.R. 4564, are "a positive step in that direction," says ACS president Albert C. Zettlemoyer in a letter to Rep. Don Fuqua (D.-Fla.), chairman of the House Committee on Science & Technology, and Sen. Bob Packwood (R.-Ore.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation. Patent policies differ markedly among government agencies, particularly in determining patent ownership resulting from federally funded R&D. "These differences lead to uncertainties, have a dampening ef-
fect on invention and industrial innovation, and have resulted in underutilization of the results of federally funded research," points out Zettlemoyer. "Hence, a uniform federal patent policy designed to foster industrial innovation is essential. "If disposition of rights under the patents resulting from federally funded research and development is in doubt or if the contractor cannot foresee a reasonable return from a successful development of the patented invention, then the benefits of the invention are less likely to be made available to the public whose taxes supported the original research." The guarantee of exclusive rights under controlled conditions provided by the two bills, says Zettlemoyer, "would be an important step in achieving greater utilization of patents resulting from federally funded research and development." S. 1657 and H.R. 4564 would ex-
tend the present uniform government patent policy to include larger businesses. "There is little basis for differentiating between small and large contractors in this regard," according to Zettlemoyer, "since the ultimate objective—implementation of inventions resulting from government-supported research to serve the public good—should not be dependent on the nature of the entity doing the research." D
Local section— meeting speakers for December 1981 As a service to ACS members, C&EN publishes listings of speakers at upcoming local section meetings. The lists are published once a month from September through May. Each list gives the program of speakers for the following month, speakers and their affiliations, topics, section involved, and dates for the presentations. For additional information please contact the local section, or the ACS headquarters Speaker Service at (202) 872-4612. Raymond E. Dessy, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University: Local network—a rational approach to lab automation; Louisville (7); Indiana-Kentucky Border, Evansviiie (9); Wabash Valley, Terre Haute (10). New approaches in microcomputer applications; Southern Indiana, Bloomington (8) Milton Kerker, Clarkson College: Enhanced Raman scattering of molecules absorbed in small particles; St. Joseph Valley, South Bend (1); Western Michigan, Muskegon (2); Upper Peninsula, Marquette (3)
MAN AND MOLECULES THE SCIENCE OF PAIN PART I Edward Huskisson St. Bartholomew's Hospital London, England and William Beaver Georgetown University This "Man and Molecules" program is currently being released to radio stations. Check with ACS News Service for stations broadcasting in your area; telephone (202) 872-4446.
Nov. 30, 1981 C&EN 55
