Chemical Education Today
Meeting Reports
International Congress of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering by Jimmy Reeves
www.JCE.DivCHED.org
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photo by Frank Torre
“Free and open exchange of ideas is fundamental to scientific progress. The American Chemical Society supports initiatives to revitalize collaboration in science and technology between the United States and Cuba.” These words, written by Chuck Casey, president of the American Chemical Society, inspired the participation of 13 American chemists and chemical engineers in the V International Congress of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering held October 17–23, 2004, in Havana, Cuba. In addition to Casey, the delegation included William Byers and John Sofranko, president and executive director of the American Institute of Chemical Engineering. Master lectures were given by Casey, Ernest Eliel (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), and Luis Echegoyen (Clemson University). Zafra Lerman (Columbia College Chicago) chaired one of six sessions of The History and Teaching of Chemistry, and was made an honorary member of the Cuban Chemical Society by Alberto Nunez, its president, who cited her extensive work in encouraging U.S. educators to attend and participate in Cuban Chemical Education. Other chemical educators who gave presentations in The History and Teaching of Chemistry sessions included Maria OliverHoyo (North Carolina State University), Jimmy Reeves (University of North Carolina at Wilmington), Lea Blau (Yeshiva University), Hessy Taft (St. John’s University, New York), and Ram Lamba (University of Puerto Rico at Cayey). The U.S. delegation was received with much warmth, hospitality and affection by the Cubans. Nunez, as President of the Cuban Chemical Society, made an effort each day to guarantee that all the needs of the delegation were met. The conference was international in scope, with countries from Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas represented. The scientific level of the papers was very high. In his master lecture, Echegoyen cited a recently published article in Chemical Communications (1) that represents the first coauthored by Cuban and U.S. researchers. In another master lecture, V. Verez, of the University of Havana described his work, recently reported in Science (2), on the synthesis of vaccines based on purely synthetic antigens. In an event not associated with the conference, Eliel was presented with an honorary degree from the University of Havana, his alma mater. With the American and Cuban flags standing side by side, the ceremony began with the playing of both the Cuban and U. S. national anthems, a symbol of the spirit of cooperation and collaboration felt by both the U.S. and Cuban participants who attended the ceremony. It was the consensus of the U.S. delegation that the quality of science carried out by many Cuban researchers is outstanding, espe-
The American Chemical Society portion of the delegation to the V International Congress of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Havana, Cuba, October 17–23, 2004. Top row (l to r): Luis Echegoyen (Clemson University), Carmen Valdez Gauthier (Florida Southern College), Lea Blau (Yeshiva University), Jimmy Reeves (University of North Carolina at Wilmington), Maria Oliver-Hoyo (North Carolina State University), and Chuck Casey (University of Wisconsin–Madison). Front row (l to r): Frank Torre (Springfield College), Hessy Taft (St. John’s University), Zafra Lerman (Columbia College Chicago), Ernest Eliel (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), and Ram Lamba (University of Puerto Rico at Cayey).
cially considering their severe lack of equipment and materials. It is the hope of the participants that collaborations between U.S. and Cuban investigators can be encouraged and that researchers from Cuba and all other countries will be permitted to publish without interference in the open scientific literature. Literature Cited 1. Fragoso, Alex; Almirall, Eduardo; Cao, Roberto; Echegoyen, Luis; González-Jonte, Raúl. A Supramolecular Approach to the Selective Detection of Dopamine in the Presence of Ascorbate. Chemical Communications 2005, 19, 2230–2231. 2. Verez-Bencomo, V. et al. A Synthetic Conjugate Polysaccharide Vaccine Against Haemophilus influenzae Type b. Science 2004, 305, 522–525.
Jimmy Reeves is in the Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 601 South College Road, Wilmington, NC 28403;
[email protected] Vol. 82 No. 2 February 2005
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Journal of Chemical Education
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