ACS NEWS News, Reports, People, Meetings February 19, 1973

Cairns meets Washington notables at ACS reception

Hosted by President Alan C. Nixon, the reception included

leaders of scientific, government, academic communities

Leaders of Washington's scientific, government, and academic communi­ties and representatives of the commu­nications media were among the guests at a reception held by the American Chemical Society on Feb. 6 to introduce the Society's new Executive Director, Dr. Robert W. Cairns. Scientific at­taches from several foreign embassies also participated in the event, which was hosted by President Alan C. Nixon in Marvel Hall of the ACS building.

Board Chairman Herman S. Bloch joined Dr. and Mrs. Nixon and Dr. and Mrs. Cairns in the receiving line, and several other members of the Board of Directors were, present. The reception followed a meeting of the Board's Ex­ecutive Committee.

Robert Cairns, Herman Bloch, Alan Nix­on, and Ellis Mottur (from left)

Dr. Cairns, who resigned as deputy assistant secretary of Commerce for science and technology to become chief executive officer of ACS, was already well known to many of the guests. How­ever, the reception served to emphasize his new role as an official representa­tive of ACS in Washington.

The gathering also focused attention once more upon the physical presence of the Society in the capital, and upon its readiness, under the terms of its Congressional Charter, to provide mem­bers of Congress and other government officials with information on public issues related to chemistry.

Among those attending was Dr. H. Guyford Stever, director of the National Science Foundation, who is scheduled

Mike McCormack, John Andelin, Philip Abelson, and Richard Kenyon (from left)

to become the Government's top scien­tist under the Administration's current reorganization plan. Other distin­guished government guests included Sen. Frank E. Moss (D.-Utah); Rep. Mike McCormack (D.-Wash.); Richard 0 . Simpson, acting assistant secretary of Commerce for science and technol­ogy; Dr. Richard W. Roberts, director of the National Bureau of Standards; and Dr. John F. Sherman, acting di­rector of the National Institutes of Health. Those from the private sector included Dr. Philip Handler, president of the National Academy of Sciences; Dr. Philip H. Abelson, president of Carnegie Institution of Washington and editor of Science; and Hugh Sidey, Washington bureau chief of Time.

Mrs. Robert Cairns, Robert Cairns, and Moddie Taylor (from left)

ACS Rubber Division sets up employment service The Rubber Division of ACS has formed an employment committee as a service to employers seeking technical person­nel. It will also serve individuals who are unemployed, who are employed but whose employer has announced closing of a plant, or who are employed but seeking a new job with the knowledge of their employer.

A. H. Woodward of the elastomer chemicals department of Du Pont is chairman of the new committee. He explains that the Rubber Division has decided to have its own employment activity as the nature of the job market for rubber industry chemical profession­als differs somewhat from that for chem­ists in general.

Under the new system, employers will advise the committee that they have specific jobs open and they will also provide some idea as to the require­ments involved. In due time they will be supplied with resumes of individuals seeking employment. These resumes will be supplied to the committee by those looking for jobs.

Where individuals are concerned, a simple procedure has been established. Upon receipt of a request by the com­mittee for assistance, a "statement of availability" will be supplied to the applicant and it must be returned before the committee can take any action. The statement gives basic details of the ap­plicant's education and experience and

spells out his (or her) current employ­ment status.

There will be no charge for this new employment service, neither for employ­ers nor individuals. But after four months each employer and each appli­cant must recontact the committee if its services are still required. Mr. Wood­ward hopes that employers and appli­cants will notify the new employment committee when its services are no longer required.

Contact for the committee for both employers and individuals is A. H. Woodward, Elastomer Chemicals Dept., E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Inc., 329 West State St., Trenton, N.J. 08618. Phone: 609-393-7141.

38 C&EN Feb. 19, 1973