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ON THE ROAD TO DIVERSITY Presidential event highlighted issues surrounding minorities in science, focused on making chemistry more inclusive Mairin B. Brennan C&EN Washington
From the ACS meeting
A
t last month's national meeting in Boston, the throng of people who packed the meeting rooms for the American Chemical Society's presidential event called "The Future of Chemistry Is All of Us" was a microcosm of diversity. A mix of blacks, whites, Hispanics, American Indians, and Asian Americans, the group aptly captured the title of the program they had come to attend. The event was organized by ACS's Committee on Minority Affairs and cosponsored by the society's Committee on Science, Committee on Education, and Corporation Associates. It included an awards presentation, plenary sessions featuring minority scientists, break-out sessions on issues surrounding the drive for minorities in science, a poster session, and a reception replete with a feast of ethnic foods. It addressed problems that confront minority students and discussed ways to solve them. In his opening address, ACS President Paul H. L. Walter highlighted the success of ACS's Scholars Program, initiated in 1994 (when Walter was chair of the society's board of directors) at the combined urging of Walter, former ACS President S. Allen Heininger, and former ACS Board Chair Joseph A. Dixon. That year, the board voted to spend $1 million per year for five consecutive years on scholarships for qualified underrepresented minorities (blacks, Hispanics, American Indians, and Alaskan natives) who wanted to earn undergraduate degrees in the chemical sciences or chemical engineering. These groups are considered underrepresented, because, unlike whites or Asians, their proportion in the chemical sciences and other professional fields in the U.S. is far lower than their proportion of the nation's overall population.
"The scholars program, now in its fourth year, has awarded more than 600 scholarships to deserving students," noted Walter. Last year, other organizations were invited to collaborate with ACS in funding the program, and two major corporations already have come on board. In 1997, PPG Industries pledged to support 10 minority scholars per year for four years. This year, Bayer Corp. made a commitment to support students in the program. Both companies also are providing monies for training mentors and separately are offering either summer research opportunities or internships. To mark their efforts, Walter honored the corporations with certificates of appreciation. The program unfolded with rousing plenary sessions that stressed the importance of fueling undergraduate students' interest in basic research and imbuing them with the will to excel in science. "I tell my students, 'Don't pick a dump to do your research. Go to the best and most exotic place,'" said Eloy Ro-
driguez, professor of environmental studies at Cornell University. A biological chemist and toxicologist, Rodriguez takes undergraduate students to Africa and the Amazon rain forest of Peru, Brazil, and Venezuela in search of natural chemicals produced by plants and ani-' mals that may have applications in medicine or as pesticides. "This is biological chemistry," he said. "It's not chemical biology. It shows students that chemistry is essential for the study of biological, ecological, and medicinal problems." The students also learn how to think globally about research and about how their discoveries might ultimately help in treating diseases that plague developing countries, he noted. Many of the students do their research in the Amazon rain forest where Rodriguez has a laboratory that's powered by a generator but "equipped to do all kinds of things," such as enzymology, biochemistry, molecular biology, and bioassays. "The rain forest is where you want to go to look for new chemistry," he said, "because there, evolutionary time and the interaction between organisms have resulted in very interesting molecules." He described a rich diversity of chemicals extracted from the plants, roots, or tree bark that indigenous peoples and wild animals depend on for treating their ills. Amazonian Indians scrape tree bark for alkaloids that act as antibiotics, he said. They look to the passion flower to help protect them from parasites. African natives also know where to look for preventive medicines, he added. "We have isolated terpenoids and glycosides from roots g
I
At poster session, Rodriguez (center) poses with chemistry students Tatiana Arteaga (left) and Arold Norelus from Florida international University, Miami.
SEPTEMBER 14, 1998 C&EN 55
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they use to treat water." The compounds kill snails that are a host for the parasite that causes schistosomiasis, he said. Rodriguez asked: "How did these people ever figure out which plants have medicinal properties? It's a fascinating question. I tell my students: 'There is your role model. You are part of science. It goes back centuries.'" Rodriguez created the new discipline of zoopharmacognosy, which studies the behavior of wild animals that appear to medicate themselves with plants and explores the chemistry of the medicinal plants. His group currently is studying Peruvian monkeys that tap trees for saps and resins that contain a mixture of calcium and polysaccharides with antibiotic properties. Rodriguez attracts a diverse group of undergraduate students to his field laboratories. Their research experience, which is funded by the National Institutes of Health and Cornell, has persuaded some who had intended to go to medical school to enter a Ph.D. program in science instead. "I'm very proud of an NIH program that's promoting students to go on to graduate school," he said. "That's the name of the game." It's also the name of the game at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), where undergraduate research is required for students in the Meyerhoff program. This 10-year-old scholars program produces black science and engineering majors who go on to pursue Ph.D. or M.D./Ph.D. careers. UMBC President Freeman A. Hrabowski HI, who heads the program, emphasized in Boston the need for increasing the number of minorities in the biomedical sciences in light of the changing demographics that indicate "one out of two Americans by the middle of the next century will be of color." The critical question, he said, is why—
56 SEPTEMBER 14, 1998 C&EN
after efforts for the past 20 to 25 years to increase the number of minorities in biomedical research— minorities still account for less than 5% of the people who hold Ph.D. degrees in this area. "There are several possible answers," he suggested. Some people think minorities don't want to pursue science careers. Others believe that minorities who are interested in science Hrabowskl: get will study medicine, be- knowledge cause "the only role models they have are physicians." To encourage students to pursue research careers, "we must connect them to their research so they become as passionate about it as their mentors are," he said. Hrabowski acknowledged that other factors also need to be addressed, including a mind-set in many university science departments that minorities lack the educational background to excel in college and a perception within minority communities "that it's not cool to be smart." He described approaches that can help the students achieve excellence in science. And he drew on experiences in his own life to show students in the audience how to overcome barriers. "We have to make [minority] students feel good about being smart," he said. "We have to make them excited about the work they are doing. I tell my stu-
the
HIII: cultural and spiritual "safety"
dents 'I don't want you to just get an A, I want you to get a high A. I want you to know as much as the professor knows.'" Students need to know how to operate on campus, he said. They need to know who the best faculty members are and who the best students are. His advice to students: "You need to find the smartest people and connect yourselves to them. If it's an Asian group, go get in the middle of them and smile and say, 'Hello.' " Hrabowski's mantra is: "Get the knowledge." That's what his mother—a math and English teacher—told him when, as a high school student in the 1960s, he watched then-governor of Alabama George Wallace "stand in the door of the University of Alabama and tell children who looked like me: 'Over my dead body will I allow Negroes in here.' My friends and I were sitting there, and we were so excited about these kids going to the University of Alabama, and he said that to us. We all sat there in tears. And my mother looked at me and said: 'Freeman, just get the knowledge; get the knowledge.' " The tremendous support and kinship offered by conferences held by minority science societies was underscored at a breakout session entitled "If We Have the ACS, Why Should We Bother To Join AISES, NOBCChE, or SACNAS? The Value of Minority Science Societies." "You can't jump out of your skin," said Norbert S. Hill Jr., executive director of the American IndiACS President Paul Walter (right, both an Science & Engineering Society photos) with Maurice V. Peconi, vice (AISES). That's why minorities need president of architectural coatings at PPG Industries (above) and Wilson 5. Goodwin, their own societies, he argued. "ACS vice president of staffing, organization, won't teach you how to be black, it and human resources development at won't teach you how to be Indian, Bayer Corp. ACS honored both companies and it won't teach you how to be with certificates of appreciation for Hispanic. You need to join ACS [for pledging support to the society's Scholars professional standing] but you also Program.
into [careers in] higher education," Alderete said. Similar nurturing is offered by the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists & Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE), noted its president, Winifred A. BurkfrHouck, a research chemist at Lawrence Iivermore National Laboratory in California. The organization has both student Alderete: role models and Llchter: confirm and affirm chapters and regional promentors diversity fessional chapters, which offer members additional need to join organizations that make you opportunity to communicate, she said. whole." Program speakers pointed out that menHill talked about the cultural, psycholog- tors can come in any color. "For most of us ical, and spiritual "safety" that minority stu- that were successful, we had noriminority dents find in their own societies. College mentors," said Alderete. catalogs "will give you 500 miles [of public"Sometimes students have allies they ity] about their diversity programs," he said, don't recognize," added Hill. "There's a but when students come on campus they need tofigureout who those allies are. If a may discover the programs "stopped at the white guy didn't offer me a fellowship, I pictures" in the catalogs. would still be an undergraduate," he said. AISES has a dual mission: It strives to In a twist on the call for diversity, Hill increase the number of American Indians suggested that American Indians, Hispanin science and engineering across the ics, and blacks need to figure out how to country, but it also encourages graduates practice it among themselves. "We have to come back to their communities and the same struggles. We have to find a help rebuild them, said Hill. Admonishing [common] voice. He noted that many Afristudents, he said: "You don't help us, you can Americans have American Indians "in don't help anybody, and you don't help their genetic past." Meanwhile, Alderete those who aren't born yet if you don't stay pointed out that, although SACNAS has "a in school. Get your degree first." preponderance of students with Hispanic Regarding the Society for Advance- names, an increasing number of African ment of Chicanos & Native Americans in Americans are among them." Science (SACNAS), its president, John F. Other break-out sessions dealt with Alderete, said: "Students who come to mentoring and affirmative action; the poour conference will find a thousand fac- litical consequences of changing demoulty members who are role models and graphics; chemistry, the economy, and mentors. The intimacy and emotion that diversity; and minority representation in students find there are very different ACS's governance. Reporting on the from what they could find at [an ACS mentoring and affirmative action session, conference] because of the number of Robert Lichter, executive director of the individuals that look like them." Alderete Camille & Henry Dreyfus Foundation, is a professor of microbiology at the Uni- stressed the importance of letting "society versity of Texas Health Science Center, and individuals in society know of our inSan Antonio. tentions to confirm and affirm diversity Mentoring, workshops, and network- and to back up that objective with data ing for students, postdoctoral fellows, and and research." Mentoring, Lichter noted, is faculty members are part of the SACNAS a process that applies to all stages in an inconference, and students have the opportu- dividual's career. nity to interna with keynote speakers who Several minority attendees expressed a often are Nobel Laureates. They may line up strong desire for a repeat performance at summer internship experiences or be re- future ACS meetings. One of them put it cruited by universities or federal research this way: "I've been coming to ACS meetlaboratories. "We do not have corporate ings for the past 20 years, but I've never sponsors. We do not want them enticing seen a [group] like we had in there. I think our kids at any level into positions where we need to have all the ethnic organizawe historically know they won't go back tions work together with ACS."^
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Guide to September local section meetings featuring ACS tour speakers As a service to society members and the public, C&EN publishes from fall to spring monthly guides to ACS tour speaker appearances at upcoming meetings. For general information about these events, which are open to all interested people, consult
the alphabetical listing of cities and their corresponding local sections along with the topic/speaker key. For additional information contact the local section or the ACS Speaker Service at (202) 872-4613.
Meeting city Local section
Meeting city Local section
Date Topic code
Date Topic code
Date Topic code
Meeting city Local section
Date Topic code
Ada, Ohio 14/11 Northwest Central Ohio R. McDermott, (419) 586-0348
Dayton, Ohio 15/11 Dayton D. Bombick, (937) 775-2340
Kingsport, Tenn. 21/JJ Northeast Tennessee L. Wilson, (423) 439-6912
Memphis 25/E Memphis L Marble, (901)272-8463
Ada, Okla. 16/Y Oklahoma T. Smith, (405) 924-0121 ext. 2640
Denver 14/P Colorado L Wilkes, (719)549-2560
Knoxville 22/E East Tennessee J. Chambers, (423) 974-3437
Midland, Texas 16/H Permian Basin U. Rao, (915) 333-8537
DePere, Wis. 16/F Northeast Wisconsin D. Klopotek, (920) 403-3192
LaCrosse, Wis. 18/R LaCrosse-Winona L. Dieterman, (507) 457-1557
Monroe, La. 23/TBA Ouachita Valley H. Brotherton, (318) 342-1829
Duluth, Minn. 14/T Lake Superior P. Kiprof, (218) 726-7203
Lake Jackson, Texas 16/1 Brazosport D.Smith, (409)238-4139
Murfreesboro, Tenn. 24/HH Nashville J. Howard, (615) 898-2079
Florence, Ala. 26/JJ Wilson Dam J. Hoagland, (205) 386-2108
Laramie, Wyo. 15/P Wyoming D. Nelson, (307) 766-5667
New Haven, Conn. 29/AA New Haven P. Krebs, (203) 365-7630
Fort Worth, Texas 15/B Dallas-Fort Worth D. Woessner, (214) 349-4803
Lawton, Okla. 21/A Wichita Falls-Duncan G. Buckley, (580) 581-2884
Omaha 22/X Omaha R. Meyer, (402) 444-4304
Gainesville, Fla. 15/Q Gainesville J. Winefordner, (352) 392-0556
Little Rock 22/0 Central Arkansas P. Stoecker, (501) 569-8844
Pensacola, Fla. 14/V Pensacola G. Berkstresser, (850) 968-8253
Greenville, N.C. 14/G Eastern North Carolina R. A. Henriksen, (252) 816-3155
Logan, Utah Salt Lake City
F. Wood-Black, (801) 299-6660
Peoria, III. 17/BB Peoria K. Burkhead, (309) 681-6287
Houston 15/1 Greater Houston D. Singleton, (281) 544-7488
Louisville 25/S Louisville S. Jarboe, (800) 822-3607
Ponca City, Okla. 15/M North Central Oklahoma A. Buckholz, (405) 767-5708
Huntington, W.Va. 18H~BA Central Ohio Valley P. Thompson, (606) 886-3863
Lubbock, Texas 15/CC South Plains C. Korzeniewski, (806) 742-3059
Port Washington, Wis. 18/EE Milwaukee J. Runquist, (414) 456-8486
Idaho Falls, Idaho 16/P Idaho M. Adamic, (208) 533-7858
Manhattan, Kan. 15/N Kansas State University B. Gatewood, (785) 532-1322
Provo, Utah 17/D Central Utah D. Berges, (801) 378-5474
Indianapolis 22/S Indiana Section J. Breen, (317)274-0052
Marietta, Ohio 16/L Upper Ohio Valley C. Houk, (740) 593-1218
Quincy, III. 16/U Mark Twain D.Ziegler, (573)221-3675
Joplin, Mo. 17/N Mo-Kan-Ok J. Summerfield, (417) 625-9717
Marquette, Mich. 15/J Upper Peninsula L. Putman, (906) 227-1071
Rock Island, III. 16/BB Illinois-Iowa R. Narske, (309) 794-7287
Kansas City, Mo. 16/N Kansas City E. Parente, (816)966-7138
17/R Marshfield, Wis. Central Wisconsin R.Haas, (715)387-7207
Rolla, Mo. 14/TBA South Central Missouri N. Leventis, (573)341-4391
Ames, Iowa 23/TBA Ames C. Jenks, (515) 294-8486 Austin, Texas 19/CC Central Texas J. Stevenson, (512) 452-7661 Beacon, N.Y. 30/K Mid-Hudson D. Drinkwater, (914) 838-7183 Bemidji, Minn. 25/Z Red River Valley G. Morine, (218)755-2792 Bloomington, Ind. 23/S Southern Indiana Section J. Zaleski, (812)855-2134 Carbondale, III. 15/C Southern Illinois J. Phillips, (618)453-6475 Cedar Rapids, Iowa 15/TBA Iowa M. Dean, (319)399-8588 Charleston, W.Va. 17/FF Kanawha Valley Section S. Seyedmonir, (304) 747-3968 Chattanooga 23/JJ Chattanooga P. Lancaster, (423) 634-7669 Columbia, Mo. 17/W University of Missouri R. Williams, (573) 681-5133 Coral Gables, Fla. 18/TBA South Florida J. Evanseck, (305) 284-2194 Corpus Christi, Texas 18/1 South Texas S. Epperson, (512) 886-4731
58
Meeting city Local section
SEPTEMBER 14, 1998 C&EN
18/TBA
Meeting city Local section
Date Topic code
San Juan, P.R. 157TBA Puerto Rico A. Guadalupe, (787) 764-0000 ext. 4817 Savannah, Ga. Coastal Empire
17/Q
R. Wallace, (912) 921-5655 South Bend, Ind. St. Joseph Valley L. Ye, (219) 262-6866 Springfield, Mo.
21/S
Meeting city Local section
Date Topic code
Ozark
Date Topic code
Meeting city Local section
Date Topic code
St. Paul, Minn. 24/X Minnesota K. Rohly, (612) 638-6407
Tulsa 14/Y Tulsa K. Kharas, (918) 266-4943
Waco, Texas 17/DD Heart o' Texas B. Kane, (254)710-2403
St. Petersburg, Fla. 17/TBA Tampa Bay S. Miller, (813) 572-4000 ext. 350
Valdosta, Ga. 16ATBA Southwest Georgia T. Manning, (912)333-5798
Warwick, R.I. 28/AA Rhode Island C. Marandola, (401) 825-2270
Victoria, Texas 17/1 Texas Coastal Bend W. Ehrett, (512) 572-1447
Wayne, Neb.
Vincennes, Ind. 24/S Wabash Valley R. Kjonaas, (812) 237-2237
Wichita, Kan. 14/N Wichita S. Swanson, (785) 826-2670
Tampa, Fla. 16/TBA Tampa Bay S. Miller, (813) 572-4000 ext. 350
18/GG
T. Jahnke, (417) 836-5506
Meeting city Local section
Texarkana, Texas 24/TBA East Texas M. Buttram, (903) 838-4541
21/Z
Sioux Valley T. Guetzloff, (605) 668-1497
Topic/speaker key: S.
Inside Story of Color Photography. J. Edwards, Kodak
T.
The Many Faces of Careers in Chemistry. H. Free
U.
Mathematical Inorganic Chemistry: From Gas 1=1 Phase Metal Cluster to Superconducting. B. King
Chemical Reactivity of Phosphorus-Bridging Carbonyl Compounds: A Novel Approach to Homogeneous Catalysis. B. King, U of Georgia
V.
New Methods To Probe Reaction Kinetics at Liquid/Solid Interfaces. J. Harris
D.
Chemical Role of Cholesterol: Good Guy Or Bad Guy? J. Vinson, U of Scranton
W.
E.
Chemistry Is Everyday Work. D, Noether
Noble Metal-Catalyzed Hydrogen Generation from Formic Acid in Nitrite-Containing Simulated Nuclear Waste Media. B. King
F.
Chemistry: The Perception of the Public. H. Free, Bayer Corp.
X.
Origins of Modern Photochemistry in Italy: A Lot of Bologna. A. Trozzolo, U of Notre Dame
G.
Computational Chemistry. R. R. Gotwals Jr.
Y.
H.
Corrosion and its Control. N. Hackerman
Oxygen Chemistry: From Green Plants to Silver-Catalyzed Epoxidation to Cytochrome P-450 Oxygenation of Hydrocarbons. D. Sawyer
I.
Discovery of the Elements. J. Marshall, U of North Texas
Z.
Photochromism: Molecules That Curl Up and Dye. A. Trozzolo
J.
Dynamic Communication Skills for Career Enhancement. H. Free
K.
Environmental Behavior of Plutonium. G. Choppin, Florida State U
L.
Environmental Chemistry of Hazardous Wastes. S. Manahan, U of Missouri
DD. Science in the Service of Society. N. Hackerman
M.
Fenton Chemistry: Much More Than Hydroxyl Radicals. D. Sawyer, Texas A&M U
EE. Through the Eyes of Hubble: The Birth, Life, and Violent Death of Stars. R. Naeye
N.
Fluorine and Tritium NMR Studies of Biological Structures. J. Gerig, U of California, Santa Barbara
FF. Toxicologicat Chemistry? S. Manahan
O.
Folk Medicine of the 19th Century. N. Heindel
P.
Free Radicals on the Attack—Antioxidants to the Rescue. J. Vinson
II.
What Is Environmental Chemistry? S. Manahan
Q.
Harnessing the Coherence of Laser Radiation for Spectroscopic Applications. J. Harris, U of Utah
JJ.
The Wide World of Chemistry. D. Noether
History of Diagnostics Industry. H. Free
TBA.To Be Announced
A.
An Approach To Anti-Alzheimer's Therapeutics: Inhibitors of Acetyl Cholinesterase. N. Heindel, Lehigh U
B.
Calixarenes: The Fascination of Molecular Baskets. C. D. Gutsche
C.
R.
AA. Plutonium, an Element for All Chemists. G. Choppin BB. Research as Chemical Education. M. Doyle, U of Arizona CC. Science Education: What Is It? Who Needs It? N. Hackerman
GG. Transition-Metal Catalysis of Carbon Monoxide and Formate Reactions. B. King HH. Water: A 360° View. D. Noether
SEPTEMBER 14, 1998 C&EN 5 9
