Credit:
Courtesy of Rigoberto Hernandez
How are we going to make the numbers work for us, not just for the next decade, but for the next 150 years? In my last C&EN Comment, I encouraged you to add a little fervor behind the intellectual arguments for how we convey our passion for chemistry. To this end, why not take advantage of the accidental concurrence of numbers to tell a story? We have been celebrating our 150th anniversary this year at local, regional, national, and international stages. Nearly 150 presidents—as some served more than once—have helped shape our journey. Their ordering is not just a number; they tell a story of continuity, connection, and purpose. Each of us is part of that legacy, linked across generations, and called to carry it forward. It’s not a question of whether we are linked, but rather how you and I are linked through the American Chemical Society.
My connection begins in a moment of remarkable historical symmetry: this year marks not only our society’s 150th anniversary, but also the sesquicentennial of Johns Hopkins University (JHU), where I am a professor, a parallel that feels less like coincidence until we reach back to Ira Remsen in the 19th century. A towering figure in American chemistry, Remsen was the first professor of chemistry at JHU’s founding, the discoverer of saccharine, and a builder of institutions as much as ideas. By 1902, 26 years after the founding of ACS and JHU, and 1 year into his presidency at JHU, he rose to lead the society as its president, linking their legacies at a formative moment in history. His influence did not end with his own leadership; it extended through generations. At least two of his students, Charles Herty and James Flack Norris, would go on to become ACS presidents themselves, Herty in 1922–23 and Norris in 1926, the year of our society’s 50th anniversary, each carrying forward Remsen’s vision.
“The question that I hope you are now asking—and perhaps answering—is how are you connected to the history of ACS?”
As JHU and Ira Remsen translated the German structure for doctoral training into the US, the success was so immediate that graduate programs soon took hold across the country. Nevertheless, under his leadership and mentorship, an extraordinarily large share of the nation’s earliest chemistry PhDs were minted at JHU, establishing a model that would ripple across generations of scientific training. In recognition of both his mentorship and his science, he was awarded our greatest prize, the Priestly Medal, in 1923. The Remsen Building at Hopkins will soon be designated as a National Historical Chemical Landmark in honor of the founding of the Hopkins Chemistry Department as the first graduate program in the US. Please join the Maryland Local Section and the JHU Chemistry Department on Oct. 20, just a few days shy of Mole Day, as we celebrate not only Remsen’s life, but the enduring spirit of discovery and mentorship he set in motion.
It turns out that I started as a professor at Georgia Institute of Technology (GT), putting me in the crosshairs of Ira Remsen’s lineage. One of his PhD graduates, William Henry Emerson, went on to become among the first chemistry professors at GT and the first US-minted chemistry PhD to enter the state of Georgia. By chance, I am also connected to Herty because I was awarded the Herty Medal in the year that would have been Herty’s 150th birthday. Funny how 150 keeps cropping up. Speaking of coincidences, I am also the president of ACS on its 150th birthday, thereby reconnecting Johns Hopkins to ACS.
I could go on with more magic numbers and coincidences, but suffice it to say that I’m amused to be connected to the legacy of ACS through this narrative of chance. The question that I hope you are now asking—and perhaps answering—is how are you connected to the history of ACS? My contention is that not only will you find a connection to ACS—through one or more of our past presidents, or in some other way—but you will also see that being rooted in the ACS network helps us thrive because we are all in it together.
I encourage you to host sesquicentennial events that celebrate the transforming power of chemistry around magic numbers like 150 so that other members will also find their connection to ACS. More information is available on acs.org/150 to coordinate your event with all the others taking place throughout this magic year.
But perhaps you can start by joining me at ACS Fall in Chicago this August. I am sponsoring a symposium called “ACS’s Next 150 Years: Consequential or Irrelevant?” Publications will host the JACS 150 Symposium, featuring several Nobel laureates and eminent chemists. We will host the ACS 150th Keynote on Wednesday, featuring Nobelist M. Stanley Whittingham. Throughout the meeting, you will also have many other opportunities to look back at our last 150 years, and to help craft the ACS that you will need for the next 150 years.
Please share your ideas and perspectives through email at [email protected] or wherever we cross paths. Your voice is an essential part of our continuing ACS story, and I look forward to connecting with you as we shape the future of our society together.
Views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of C&EN or ACS.
