North Carolina Section. North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina.
Academic record: University of South Carolina, BS, 1991; University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, PhD, 1996.
Professional positions: North Carolina State University, Teaching Professor, 2014-present; Associate Department Head, 2022-present; Teaching Associate Professor, 2006-2014; Associate Department Chair, 2009-2017.
ACS local section and division offices: North Carolina Section: Councilor, 2005-present; Alternate Councilor, 2004; Women Chemists Subcommittee, Chair, 2011-16; Co-Chair, 2007; Education Subcommittee, Co-Chair, 2014-present; Project SEED Subcommittee, Chair, 2013-16. Southeastern Regional Meeting: Meeting Organizer, 2023, 2012.
ACS national service: Committee on Fiscal Affairs, Member, 2025-present; Committee on Membership Affairs, Chair, 2022-24; Member, 2018-2024; Member Insurance, Board of Trustees, Member, 2022-24; Council Policy Committee, Member Ex-Officio (Nonvoting), 2022-24; Task Force on the Future of Meetings, Member, 2019-2020; Committee on Women Chemists, Chair, 2017; Member, 2009-2017; Committee Associate, 2006-08.
Member: Member of ACS since 1991. Alpha Chi Sigma; American Association of Chemistry Teachers; Sigma Xi. ACS Divisions: Physical Chemistry; Professional Relations.
Related activities and honors: ACS Fellow, 2021; NC State University Equity for Women Award, 2018; UNC System Bridges Leadership Program, 2016; NC State Provost Faculty Fellow, 2020-21; Marcus Hobbes Award, North Carolina Section, 2012.
Sremaniak’s statement
It is such an honor to be a nominee for president-elect of the American Chemical Society during the society’s 150th anniversary! As a member since my undergraduate years, ACS has played an influential role in my career and leadership development. By extension, I recognize and appreciate the values and support of ACS for both the chemical profession and chemical professionals.
I am a faculty member and administrator in the department of chemistry at North Carolina State University, the largest research-intensive university in North Carolina. In ACS, I have served as a councilor since 2005, and I am active in leadership and outreach in the North Carolina Local Section, including in our subcommittees for Project SEED, Women Chemists, and Education.
With the national ACS, I have chaired two committees: the Women Chemist Committee (2017) and the Committee on Membership Affairs (2022–24), and currently I am a member of the Committee on Fiscal Affairs. In addition, I have served as a trustee on the Board of Trustees for the ACS Member Insurance Program. Service in these roles has given me a deep and broad knowledge of the ACS and the opportunity to hone my leadership skills.
While the ACS benefits from a strong financial outlook, an excellent portfolio of products and services, and a sizable membership base, there are ongoing and emerging challenges that require action, not in modifying our purpose or values, but in how we remain relevant to our members and the larger scientific enterprise:
• artificial intelligence transforming educational and career landscapes
• eroding support for science
• enrollment declines in education
• difficult research funding climates
At the same time, these challenges put ACS in a particularly good position to be a trusted resource for its members and future members. ACS is uniquely positioned to serve as a center point of activity for those studying, working, or retired from positions in education, government, industry, or related fields.
As ACS president, I will focus my efforts in the following areas.
Supporting membership and engaging members
Members are at the heart of ACS and working with leaders and staff, we can do many things to enhance our membership community. Retention, averaging around 70%, is a particularly vexing problem, especially among students, industrial members, and new members. Clear and more personalized communication is one way to inform members of offerings that might be of interest to them. Tailored solutions are also needed to reduce the organizational burden of volunteering, creating margin for leaders to plan and execute events in local sections, divisions, international and student chapters. I would also welcome a discussion about how we can better utilize alternate councilors and enhance communication between councilors.
Improving education and career development
ACS is poised to be a particularly relevant resource to educators and students in the integration of AI tools in educational offerings. While the American Association of Chemistry Teachers has a well-developed selection of resources for pre-college chemistry teachers, there are opportunities to make our current and future resources available in a similar format for college educators.
Supporting careers, especially in the difficult transitions for recent graduates and mid-career members facing unwanted career transitions, is a need that requires the support of dedicated volunteers in an array of fields. We need to encourage and augment these efforts, such as expanded opportunities for industrial members to collaborate with educators to improve career readiness among chemistry students.
Strengthening science communication and advocacy
It is crucial to build upon our efforts in communicating science, especially programs to help members communicate their work in compelling ways to a general audience and providing easy-to-share communications on the importance of supporting science to elected leaders. This is another area where members passionate about advocacy in the support of science can be amplified through coordinated efforts, such as our Act4Chemistry program.
In short, I would like ACS to be the recognized professional home of all those studying or working in the chemical sciences and a valued resource for members no matter what assistance or information they need throughout their careers.
If elected, I would take a collaborative approach to make progress in these areas by understanding the issues, listening to and considering many options for addressing them, and working with ACS governance and staff to bring change where it is needed. Let’s join together to build an inclusive and welcoming community of all professionals in the chemical sciences. Thank you for your consideration, and I would be honored to have your vote!
Find me on LinkedIn and on my website at laura4acs.org.
