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More Challenges Ahead This week, June 2-4, the Chemical Manufacturers Association holds its annual meeting at the Greenbrier Hotel in White Sulphur Springs, W. Va. A story on CMA's reorganization appears on page 15. This guest editorial is by incoming CMA Chairman William Stavropoulos, president and chief executive officer of Dow Chemical.
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few weeks ago, I had the honor of presiding over the annual presentation of the Othmer Gold Medal to P. Roy Vagelos, the former chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Merck & Co. He was recognized for his successful business career as the leader of one of the world's great, innovative companies and for his significant individual contributions as a physician, scientist, and researcher (see page 38). His remarks at the awards ceremony were inspiring—a reminder of the important and vital role our industry, the science of chemistry, and chemical products play in the everyday lives of billions of people around the world. I wish a great many more of our industrial colleagues could have heard them. I also wish a great many people outside the chemical industry could have heard his remarks. For they were also a reminder of how little people in this country and elsewhere know about the chemical industry and its relevance to their lives. Our industry, not unlike other major U.S. industries, faces many challenges as it enters the new millennium. So does the science of chemistry. One of the more significant challenges we face is related to our collective identity, our reputation among people and policymakers all over the world. If we do not aggressively address and successfully overcome this challenge, not only is our standing with the public and policymakers at risk, so, too, is our entire franchise. The late Donald F. Othmer has been described as someone with the talent of "finding simple, practical solutions to complicated scientific problems." Solutions. It is perhaps the simplest—not to mention best—description of the chemical industry and chemistry that I can think of. The science and the industry have found solutions to many of mankind's biggest and deadliest problems. As Vagelos pointed out, the science of chemistry and the chemical industry have prevented death and eased suffering, extended life, and improved
the quality of life for people in the developed world as well as in some of the most remote places on Earth. And yet, the industry's standing with the public lingers near or at the bottom of almost every public opinion poll. And more often than not, the industry and its products (and the science of chemistry, too) seem to be identified more with what's wrong in the world than with what is right with it. Why is this so? Recent public opinion research conducted for the Chemical Manufacturers Association points out that people simply don't know much about chemistry or the industry. What's more, they don't see either as being all that relevant in their everyday lives. In fact, according to the research, hardly anyone can name an individual chemical product. That's the bad news. The good news is the overwhelming majority of people actually haven't made up their minds about the industry, one way or another. People are willing to hear more from us before they do make up their minds. In the last decade, the chemical industry has become much more sensitive to and aware of the need to communicate more—and more effectively—with the public. Many of our problems have been the result of decades of not communicating with the people who live beyond the fence lines of our plant sites. The recent public opinion research suggests we need to do more. The challenges all of us face involve how people see the industry and the science of chemistry—and how we see ourselves. We have been far too reluctant to discuss our industry's heritage. We need to aggressively address the concerns people have about our industry, about chemicals, and about the science of chemistry. But we need to be just as aggressively proud of our profession's heritage and of our collective accomplishments. William Stavropoulos President and CEO, Dow Chemical Co.
Views expressed on this page are those of the author and not necessarily those of ACS MAY 31, 1999 C&EN
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