Awards

The Division of Professional Relations (PROF) congratulates Dr. Jessica Lamb on being selected for the inaugural PROF Leadership Development Award. She will be representing the division with her attendance at the ACS Leadership Development Institute 2022 in Atlanta, GA.

Get to know more about Dr. Lamb as she shares some insight, advice, and fun with us:

1. What is a facet of professional development that you are interested in learning more about?

I am interested in getting involved at the national level. I’ve held leadership positions in local and regional organizations, but I am interested to learn how responsibilities grow and evolve when serving a larger and more diverse constituency.

2. What’s a piece of advice that you would give to someone interested in doing more leadership and professional development?

Do it! Find the organizations that are already doing the work you are interested in and get involved. Whether you want to develop your own skills or give back to a community you care about, you don’t have to re-invent the wheel.

3. How did you get involved with PROF?

I had heard of the ACS Women Chemists Committee in graduate school, but I did not realize it was part of a larger PROF division until Prof. Amanda Morris from Virginia Tech told me about the GTCA and the opening for the Chair-Elect position. I decided to run to increase visibility and representation for ace (asexual) chemists. All of the different PROF sub-divisions are so important to foster community and provide professional development opportunities.

4. What’s something you enjoy outside of your work?

I have too many hobbies to keep up with these days, but I enjoy crafting and playing board/tabletop/video games. Those things have kept me sane during the pandemic because they are easy to do individually or online. I look forward to social dancing (particularly swing dancing) again when that can be done safely.

 You can follow her research group’s Twitter @TheLambLab.

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The Division of Professional Relations of the American Chemical Society is a division for all

chemists, representing all types of chemical professionals of all identities, career stages, and

chemical disciplines. PROF aims to empower chemical professionals for success in a diverse

world through the creation of inclusive communities, resources, and programming. Visit

acsprof.org and follow on Twitter @acsprof to learn more.

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Want to share content or an announcement our members may be interested in?

Contact:

ACS Division of Professional Relations

Annabelle Lolinco

communications@acsprof.org

(559) 644-8891

Jeannette Brown: African American Woman Chemist

The American Chemical Society Division of Professional Relations Henry A. Hill Award honors persons who have served the profession in the area of professional relations in a unique and distinguished manner.  The 2020 recipient of the Henry Hill Award is Jeanette Brown.

Henry A. Hill was a past President of the American Chemical Society and first African American President, who helped establish standards for employer-employee relations within the chemical profession. The American Chemical Society Division of Professional Relations is focused on empowering chemical professionals for success in a diverse world. Their mission is to create inclusive communities, resources and programming for the benefit of chemical professional throughout their careers.

Jeanette Brown has a “body of work that spans over six decades and she has been instrumental in the careers of numerous chemists during that time” according to Zakiya S. Wilson-Kennedy, Assistant Dean for Diversity & Inclusion, College of Science Louisiana State University. She was born in New York in 1934 where she began to study chemistry at an early age. She pursued and received her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Hunter College in 1956 as one of two African Americans in the inaugural class of chemistry majors before moving to the University of Minnesota where she became the first African American woman to achieve a Master’s Degree in Organic Chemistry from the University of Minnesota. After finishing her education, Jeanette began her industrial career at CIBA Pharmaceutical Company where she specialized in drug development before eventually moving to Merck in 1969 where she authored 15 publications and received a patent for her work synthesizing novel medicinal compounds. Jeanette joined the faculty of the New Jersey Institute of Technology in 1993 where she became a champion for African American students interested in STEM careers.

Throughout her career she has been passionately devoted to improving diversity within the STEM fields. Jeanette served on the National Science Foundation Committee on Equal Opportunity for Women Minorities and Persons with Disabilities and authored the book African American Women Chemists in 2011. Her second book published in 2018, African American Women Chemists in the Modern Era, continues this legacy while focusing on contemporary women who have benefitted from the Civil Rights Act and are actively contributing to the fields of chemistry and chemical engineering. Jeanette is the 2005 Outstanding Achievement Award recipient from the University of Minnesota and was named the 2009 Glenn E & Barbara Hodson Ullyot Scholar by the Chemical Heritage Foundation. She is a 2007 Fellow of the Association for Women in Science and 2009 Fellow of the American Chemical Society. Above all else, Jeanette is a passionate mentor and champion for countless chemists from underrepresented communities. Allison Aldridge, Compliance Safety Officer with the U.S. FDA, recalls how “she saw me on the street and invited me to join her and a friend for lunch. Since that time, she has given me advice on my professional career and encouraged me to become more involved with ACS. I am fortunate to have her as a friend and mentor.”

A ceremony celebrating the 2020 Henry A. Hill Award recipient will be held on Tuesday, March 24^th from 5-7pm in the Horizons Rooftop Ballroom of the Philadelphia 201 Hotel as part of the 259^th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Philadelphia, PA.

 

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