April 10, 1931
INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
99
The Council Meeting in Indianapolis President Gomberg opened the eig;hty-nrst meeting of the
AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY by calling the Council to order
in the Lincoln Hotel at 2 P-. M., Monday, March 30. There were 155 Councilors present. Business was expeditiously handled, and interest was never allowed to flag during the entire session. Before proceeding with the regular order of business, President Gomberg called t h e attention of the Council t o some matters of general interest t o the SOCIETY. He stated that the reorgani zation of the Board of Directors had been effected· the four newly elected Directors-a*-Large being George P. Adamson, Thomas Midgley, Jr., Milton C. Whitaker, and Robert E. Wilson, and that Charles L. Reese had been elected Chairman of tfcie Board of Directors. He reported that the Directors, in accordance -with a. resolution adopted by the Council at the Cincinnati meeting last fall favoring the establishment of some form of adequate pensions for employees of this SOCIETY, had transferred $50,000 from the general surplus fund to the employees' retirement reserve. President Gomberg called attention to the offer made to the SOCIETY by A. C. Z*angmuir, of New York, to place at our dis posal $1000 a year for a few years to initiate a n award by the SOCIETY yearly of an honorarium to some promising young man or woman doing work in pure science (chemistry). He reported the financial status of the SOCIETY t o be sound and healthy. At the close of 1930 the excess of assets over liabilities was approximately $291,000. Generous support from our friends—approximately $35,000 from the Chemical Founda tion through the efforts of Francis P. Garvan, always a devoted friend of the cause of chemists, and $52,000 from the industries— has made it possible for the SOCIETY to meet all i t s financial obligations without having to draw upon the surplus fund. A potential depletion of this fund to the extent of some $40,000 has been thus avoided and at the same time small additions have also been made to the Decennial Index and the Chemi cal Abstracts trust funds, respectively. Our journals continue to take up 85 per cent of our total expenditures. In the opinion of President Gomberg we have every reason to hope that the industries will continue to sup port our publications beyond the 5-year promise. As regards the Chemical Foundation, however, we are informed that under its present charter it is obliged t o hold its funds against actual needs and not to assist in building up surplus. Accordingly, the budget for 1931 has been prepared on l i e basis of the an ticipated regular income and revenues of the SOCIETY, plus the comforting assurances of the Chemical Abstracts support fund from the industries. Secretary Parsons then read the following list of members whose decease has been recorded since the meeting of the SO CIETY in Cincinnati in the fall of 1930: Deceased Members Recorded since the Cincinnati Meeting of the Society M A T T H E W AOCATB CLBMBNT W. A N D R E W S GBORGB O. BASSBTT K E N N E T H M. BAUM GEORGE M . BERINGER. CARL A . BLACK E V E R E T T E U G E N E BRA.GO JOHN EC. CAUGHLAN E. L. CONWBLL ADELLA COOK EMIL R. CRAMER JOHN T . DORRANCB P . M. D O R S B Y H E R B E R T H. D O W W I N D O W A. D V B R R T . R. E V A N S GBO. B . FREDENBURO FREDERIC G. GOODRXDOB MALVTN D . GOTTBSPBSJ> CLARE H. H A L L ELLWOOD HKNDRICK PHILIP C. HOFFMANN SOLOMON K. K A H N WILLIAM C. K I R K EDMUND ε . KNOLL H E N R Y LBFPMANN F R A N K W. LIBPSNBR ARTHUR LOWBNSTBIN HARALD LUNDEN A X E L MALMSTROM
NBLSON B. M A Y E R RICHARD K. M B A D B JARVTS M E I R S JOHN A. MILLER CORLISS N . MISKNICK RICHARD B . M O O B B RICHARD M U E L L E R THOMAS G. MOIR. BENJAMIN L. MURRAY ERIC M C G E B NBWCOBCB J. W. NOWBLL EDWARD R. N O Y E S LEWIS I. NURRNBBRO IRVING L. OZANNTB PHILIP NORMAN PBTBR. EDGAR BANKFLELJD SANDERS RUDOLPH S B L D N B R LOUIS SIMPSON ERNEST ELLSWORTH SMITH EUGENE B. SMITH WILLIAMS H. T E A S JOHN EDGAR T B B P L B RALPH W. WEBSTER J. B. W E B M S OTTO H. L. WBR3*ICKB EDWARD J. WHEELBR J. EDWARD WHITFIELD CHAS. FARNUM WHITTBMORR WM. WILKIB, J R .
MAN UEL R. ZAMORA
After the reading of this unusually long list, thie Council stood for a few moments in silent tribute to their memory. The following resolutions on the recent death of Treasurer Teeple were then read and unanimously adopted:
Through t h e death of John Edgar Teeple the profession of chemistry has lost a distinguished member and the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY a man who performed faithfully a unique sex-vice for it. Doctor Teeple combined a true appreciation for research i n fundamentals w i l h a practical point of view and sound business judgment -which made his advice o f great value. His early professional career was i n academic halls, but t h e greater part of his business life was spent a s a consultant. In this work he insisted that in dustrial organizations first obtain facts through research before endeavoring t o proceed on a commercial scale. This insistence upon facts, together with his sound judgment, peculiarly fitted him t o be Treasurer of the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, an office which h e held from. 1019 until the date of his death. He had become a member of the SOCIBT ν in 1902. The influence of bis life has been made manifest through brilliant leader ship, wise counsel* and friendly meeting of his mind with youth and age in splendid understanding. We know that t h e originality and rare force of his outstanding professional achievements and the master-working of his mind have wrought for future generations a s for our own. Realizing its great loss, the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, assembled at Indianapolis, desires to record its appreciation o f John Edgar Teeple as a man, a fellow member, and an important nationa.1 officer, and to express its deep sorrow at his death. In h i s passing w e are conscious of great loss, but a r e consoled by a rich memory.
The by-laws of the Division of Petroleum Chemistry, as examined by the Secretary, were next presented and unanimously adopted. Nominations followed for the election of two Councilors-atLarge to fill the unexpired terms of R. E. Wilson and M. C. "Whitaker, who had been elected Directors. J. H. Hildebrand was elected to fill the unexpired term of R. E. Wilson, which will terminate with. December, 1933. E. Emmet Reid was elected to fill the other vacancy, and will hold office through December 31, 1931. It was voted that a charter be issued for a local section in Southwest Virginia, with headquarters a t Roanoke, the section to include the counties of Allegheny, Amherst, Campbell, Roanoke, Craig, Botetourt, Bedford, Franklin, Floyd, Mont gomery, Pulaski, and Rockbridge, and that the selection of its name be left to the local section, in cooperation with the Business Manager, with power to act. Invitations were presented from Kansas City, Omaha, and Washington, I>. C, to hold the spring meeting of the SOCIETY in their respective cities in 1933. The Council was unable to act upon these invitations, however, since they were not presented to the Directors with full data a s to facilities three months prior to the meeting as required by vote of the Council. An nouncement was also made of an invitation from Cleveland and from Chicago for the fall meeting of 1933, but no action could be taken at this time. Lester F. Hoyt, on behalf of the Western New York Section, extended a cordial invitation for the members of the SOCIETY to make a special effort t o attend the Buffalo meeting during the week of August 31, 1931, particularly since the two following meetings will be a t considerable distances from the center of population. The date of the Denver meeting was set for August 29 to September 2, 1932. The Council next considered an amendment to the Constitu tion, which in brief involved placing the election of the Secre tary and Treasurer of the SOCIETY in the hands of the Board of Directors, a s has been the practice in connection with the Treasurer of the SOCIETY for ten years past. The Council unanimously recommended these changes in the Constitution to the membership. A vote of thanks was given the Committee to Consider Suggestions for the Reorganization of the American Chemical Society for its very efficient and arduous work in securing the views of the members of the SOCIETY and in the preparation of the report. The Council, by vote, expressed the opinion that the redpient of the A. C. S. $1000 award for pure research, initiated by A. C. Langmuir, should be little, if any, over 3 0 years of age. It was further voted t o accept the amended report of the committee having the award in charge, with the understanding that the views expressed by the Council be left i n the hands of the com mittee and the Secretary of the SOCIETY with power to act. It was moved that the SOCIETY, through its Council, express a vote of thanks to Doctor Langmuir for initiating this award in pure research for young men or women a t the outset or threshold of their career. The reports of committees having been mimeographed and circularized among the Councilors by the Secretary's office, the Council voted, without establishing a precedent, and there being no objection in any individual case, to accept them. Neil E. Gordon then read the following letter from Francis P. Garvan:
NEWS EDITION
100
March 2 0 , 1Θ31 COUNCIL OF THB AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIBTV. WASHINGTON, D . C. GBKTTLEMBN: F o r the past eight years, Mrs. Garvan and myself have been accustomed at this time t o tender funds for essay contents to be administered by your SO CIBTV in t h e high schools, normal schools, universities, a n d colleges of the United States. Because of the cooperation of your members a n d of other persons interested in t h e advancement of chemical knowledge in our country, these contests have had unusual success in reaching thousands of students and adults as well. At the same time, t h e development of chemistry ID America and a realiza tion of its importance have affected all branches of American thought. This, together with the opportunities in industry and the widespread appre ciation of the importance of the study o f chemistry, makes i t now seem that the spur of these special prices is no longer needed and renders unnecessary the continuation of these contests. W e believe that the thousands of students who have been participants -will gladly join with us in expressing sincerest thnnlcs to all who have unselfishly lent their aid in accomplishing the purposes of t h e essay contest. Sincerely yours, FRANCIS P. GARVAN
T h e Council accepted this additional report from Doctor Gordon and voted that the President formulate a letter to M r . and Mrs. Garvan expressing appreciation of their generosity in supporting this "work over such a long period of time and also expressed its appreciation of the very great amount of selfsacrificing work which the committee has done i n furthering these contests. I t was further moved that mention b e made in t h e letter t o M r . and Mrs. Garvan of t h e valuable results that have come from the Prize Essay Contests. Walter A. Schmidt presented a resolution with respect to members of the SOCIETY using their names, and especially their connection with t h e AMERICAN
CHEMICAL SOCIETY, i n testi
monial form of advertising. The Council voted that t h e Presi dent of t h e SOCIETY be empowered to refer the resolution t o a committee of three, that this committee of three be requested to report on the resolution within 24 hours to t h e Board of Directors, and that the latter b e empowered to issue i t as an edict of t h e AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY a t such time as t h e y
see fit. T h e committee drafted the following resolutions which were later publicly given out as a pronouncement of the SOCIETY: WIIERUAS. The AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIKTY has fostered cooperation be tween scientific and technical men for the development a n d advancement of the science of chemistry and has encouraged the distribution of scientific and technical knowledge in the field of pure a n d applied chemistry, achieving public confidence largely through its success i n maintaining a high standard of professional ethics within its membership» and WIXBRBAS, The AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIBTV h a s stood for t h e protection of t h e public against imposition in matters chemical, as well us for the pro motion of the science for the common good, Now, therefore, be i t Resolved, That the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIBTV, in i t s policy of encouraging t h e distribution Of scientific knowledge, differentiates clearly between the publishing of scientific information or technical data on t h e one hand and testimonials of uncritical or inadequate statements on the other; and that the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY disapproves of chemists lending their names or support to the testimonial form of advertising; and that the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY condemns any reference to the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY in published statements of the testimonial type, and disapproves of statements which impose on t h e public's con fidence in the chemical profession.
T h e Secretary was instructed t o send a note of thanks to t h e chairmen of the local committees, t h e Indiana Section, and others who contributed to the success of the meeting. T h e Council voted that the Board of Directors consider a change i n the present method of transmitting t o the local sections their share of new membership fees, in that t h e refund now must be requested by t h e secretaries of local sections, and i t is felt that refunds should flow automatically to the interested local section.
Chemical Training Big Asset to Rockne Perhaps few of our members know that K n u t e K. Rockne, Notre Dame's famous football coach w h o m e t h i s tragic death in a n airplane crash during the week: of t h e meeting of the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY in Indianapolis, was at o n e time a
member of t h e SOCIETY, being listed in. our first Directory. In the opinion of Father J. A. Nieuwland, Rockne's mentor during his school days and a close personal friemd of the coach, Rockne undoubtedly owed much of his prowess as one o f the greatest coaches of all time to his training in chemistry, which taught him the method of reasoning.
Vol. 9, No. 7
A. C. S. Award in Pure Chemistry Initiated by A. C. Langmuir This award to a young man or woman on original research in pure chemistry will first be made at the Buffalo meeting of the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, August 31 to September 3 ,
1931. The award will be made under t h e rules printed below. N o nominations can b e made except by members of t h e American Chemical Society, and nominations this year must be i n the hands of the Secretary of t h e Society on o r before May 1 5 , 1 9 3 1 . R U L E S FOR THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY AWARD I N P U R E CHEMISTRY ADOPTED B Y THE COUNCIL
T h e award shall be made in recognition of the accomplishment, in America, of outstanding chemical research by a young man or woman preferably working in a college or university. T h e recipient shall deliver a paper or lecture upon the subject of h i s scientific work at the fall meeting of the SOCIETY or before one of its divisions. It shall be published in one of the journals of the S O CIETY. T o be eligible for the award a candidate's a g e shall pref erably not exceed 3 0 years. Outstanding cliemical research, for the purposes of this award, is understood to b e that which is of unusual merit for an individual on t h e threshold of his career in chemistry. The research is not t o be judged i n comparison with the work of more mature and experienced chemists. In judging various researches, special consideration shall be given to t h e independence of thought and the originality shown b y the candi date. T h e award shall be made by a committee of seven, consisting of t h e President-Elect
of the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
(or a member to be designated by him), who shall act a s chair man, and six other members, t w o t o be appointed at the b e ginning of each year by the incoming President of the SOCIETY, to serve for three years. They shall n o t be eligible for more than two consecutive terms. (To initiate the system, t h e President shall b e empowered t o appoint at once t w o for 1931, two for t w o years 1931-32, and t w o for three years 1931-33, inclusive.) T h e chairman of the Committee of Award shall receive nomi nations as hereinafter provided. H e shall exchange information among the members of t h e committee concerning qualifications of t h e nominees, shall poll the votes of t h e committee, a n d shall report the name of the recipient t o the Secretary of t h e SOCIETY. Upon announcement in the N E W S EDITION i n its first issue of January each year, nominations m a y be made to t h e Secretary of t h e SOCIETY, n o t t o exceed one from any individual w h o must be a member of the SOCIETY. Nominations shall be accompanied by a brief biographical sketch of the nominee, including his age, and information concerning the research upon which t h e nomination is based. T h e nominations of candidates must be in the bands of t h e Secretary of the SOCIETY on or before March 1 of the year of the award ( M a y 15 for 1931 only). On or before March 2 of each year, t h e Secretary of the S O CIETY shall transmit to t h e President-Elect all completed nomi nations in h i s hands at that time. In addition, t h e PresidentElect, or chairman of t h e Committee of Award, may receive from any member of the committee not t o exceed two nomina tions. T h e committee shall a t once proceed t o ballot, each member of t h e committee indicating t o the chairman his first, second, and third choices. If four members select as first choice t h e same person from the list of nominees, such a choice shall be final and the person agreed upon shall be designated as the recipient of t h e award. If there i s no such agreement, the chairman shall weight each first choice as three, each second choice as t w o , each third choice as one, and shall total t h e score of each nominee as obtained by this method. H e shall then select those having the highest total in number n o t less than four a n d preferably not more than seven. Further balloting shall be continued on the candidates s o selected. On each subsequent ballot, each member of the committee shall vote for one candidate only. If o n any ballot any candidate receives t h e votes of four of t h e jurors, he shall b e declared elected. If o n t h e first or a n y sub sequent ballot n o candidate receives four votes, the chairman of the committee m a y drop from the list of candidates for subse quent balloting those receiving · the fewest votes until there remain only two, from whom the committee shall select t h e recipient. T h e committee shall report its selection to the President a n d Secretary of the SOCIETY by July 15 of each year. Upon being notified of the selection, the Secretary of t h e SOCIETY shall obtain from the nominee his acceptance. I n the event of re jection, t h e Committee of Award shall make a further selec tion. ( T o initiate t h e award in 1931, nominations must be received by t h e Secretary of the SOCIETY prior t o May 15,1931.)
