Princeton Wins 2013 ChemLuminary Award

The Princeton Local Section of the American Chemical Society (PACS) has been awarded the ChemLuminary for Outstanding Community Involvement in National Chemistry Week for last year’s National Chemistry Week 2013 program given jointly by PACS and the Princeton University Department of Chemistry.

The main event in our winning NCW program was NCW13 Energy Activities Night at Frick Chemistry Laboratory on November 8, 2013. More than 650 community members, ages 5 to 96, enjoyed an evening of activities and demonstrations related to the NCW 2013 theme, “Energy: Now and forever.”  More than 90 volunteers, including more than 50 high school students, made the event possible. The NCW 2013 program also included training sessions for teachers and volunteers. The training sessions were held at schools and at Frick Laboratory in the weeks before Activities Night.

Department of Chemistry Lecture Demonstrator Kathryn Wagner and PACS Counselor Louise Lawter were NCW 2013 co-coordinators. Wagner organized the program and training sessions, and Lawter directed publicity and communications. Community members who volunteered time, energy, and materials to the planning, training, organizing, supervising, facilitating, and logistics that produced a winning program included:

• Princeton University Department of Chemistry students, staff, faculty, and their families
• Lawrence High School STEM students and faculty
• Princeton High School chemistry students and faculty
• West Windsor-Plainsboro High School students
• Princeton University Department of Electrical Engineering students and faculty
• Princeton University Sustainability Group staff
• Princeton Center for Complex Materials staff and faculty
• The College of New Jersey students
• Local scientists
• PACS Section members and other ACS members

The ChemLuminary award was presented on Tuesday, August 12, 2014, at a ceremony held during the 248th ACS National Meeting in San Francisco, CA. ChemLuminary awards are given annually by the American Chemical Society to individual members and to ACS Sections, Divisions, Regions and Committees for exceptional volunteer work and outstanding programs that promote chemistry and the chemical sciences.

Come join us for our National Chemistry Week 2014 Activities Night at Frick Chemistry Laboratory on Friday, October 24, 7:00-9:30pm. This year’s national theme is “Candy: The sweet side of chemistry.” Visit http://chemists.princeton.edu/pacs/outreach-activities/national-chemistry-week/ for more details.