The members of the American Chemical Society have elected Diane Grob Schmidt, a section head at Procter & Gamble, as ACS president-elect for 2014. During her three-year succession, Schmidt will serve as president of the society in 2015 and immediate past-president in 2016; she will also serve on the board of directors. The society, which publishes C&EN, also elected or re-elected four other board directors.
During her term in office, Schmidt plans to focus on working "to create an atmosphere that encourages growth and the addition of U.S. jobs." Among her many honours, Schmidt received the Henry A. Hill Award from the ACS Division of Professional Relations in 2012 and was named an ACS Fellow in 2011.
In other ACS election results, George M. Bodner, the Arthur Kelly Distinguished Professor of Chemical Education and an engineering faculty member at Purdue University, won re-election as District II director for a three-year term. He defeated Alan A. Hazari, director of chemistry labs and lecturer at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
For the District IV director position, Rigoberto Hernandez, a professor of chemistry at Georgia Institute of Technology, defeated incumbent Larry K. Krannich, a professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of Alabama, Birmingham.
In elections for at-large director, Dorothy J. Phillips, a retired Waters Corp. marketing director, and Kathleen M. Schulz, president of Business Results, secured the two open seats. They will join four other current at-large directors.
Only ACS members in a given district vote for that district's director. Also, only voting councilors can submit a ballot for director-at-large. Out of 486 councillors eligible to vote, ACS received 382 valid ballots for director-at-large. Voter participation for president-elect was about the same as last year, totalling nearly 14 percent of eligible voters, defined as ACS members in good standing who joined the society no later than August.
