ā¢Ā Celebrate 150 Years of ACS!
ā¢Ā More Spots, Reduced Cost for AgSTEAM Workshop
ā¢Ā Michigan Science Teachersā Association Coming to Kalamazoo!
ā¢Ā Southwest Michigan Chemistry Network visits Kalsec
ā¢Ā Tribute to Gabe Kornis, KACS Member and 59-Year ACS Member
ā¢Ā āMolecular Basketsā Topic of Upcoming Seminar
ā¢Ā KACS Calendar
Celebrate 150 Years of ACS!
The first opportunity to participate in the KACSā celebration of 150 years of the American Chemical Society at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum is Saturday, February 14, from 1 to 3 p.m. Learn more about how āChemistry is Everything.ā Explore local contributions to chemistry while connecting with KACS members who will be on-site to share information about the organization. Experience a free planetarium show, āElements in Orbit,ā at 2 p.m. (Planetarium tickets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.) Visit kalamazoomuseum.org for more information.
Other available dates in 2026 for members to volunteer their services at the KVM, from 1-3 p.m., for this special 150th commemoration of ACS’ founding are
Ā· Saturday, May 9, 2026
Ā· Saturday, August 8, 2026
Ā· Saturday, November 7, 2026
Please contact Carol Guerrero (cguerrero@kvcc.edu) with questions, or if you would like to volunteer.
You may watch a video from ACS headquarters announcing the 150th anniversary here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_d6VUnbig4
More Spots, Reduced Cost for AgSTEAM Workshop
See the updated flyer about the AgSTEAM workshop for 10th – 12th graders coming to Kalamazoo this summer! It announces that there are more available spots for participants, the cost is now $250/participant (scholarships are available) and the location will be the KRESA Career Connect Campus at 3500 Vanrick Drive in Kalamazoo.
Michigan Science Teachersā Association Coming to Kalamazoo!
As far back as any of us can remember, this will be the very first time that Kalamazoo is hosting the Michigan Science Teachersā Associationās annual conference! It will be held at The Radisson Hotel from March 6-7 and should provide a great opportunity for teachers to network with others across the state, to exchange best practices for effective teaching strategies experienced by colleagues, to learn of resources (both in print and people available to visit classrooms). There will be presentation sessions by teachers and informal educators, as well as vendors, and there will also be a vendor/exhibit hall. And the KACS will be informally sharing information about our Southwest Michigan Chemistry Network initiative. According to one of our local HS teachers āIt will be pretty exciting and bring some energy!ā
More information is available here.
Southwest Michigan Chemistry Network visits Kalsec
By Doug Williams
We were grateful for the opportunity to take a tour of the Kalsec, Inc. research facilities on January 8, 2026, with a group of local high school chemistry instructors and program directors. This event was organized by the Southwest Michigan Chemistry Network (SWMCN), a collaborative project of KACS, Pfizer, Inc., Kalamazoo College, and Kalamazoo Regional Educational Service Agency (KRESA). Our tour group (see photo) was hosted by KACS member David Bolliet (Sr. R&D Manager, Kalsec, Inc.). Teachers learned about Kalsecās products and research capabilities, in addition to skills that students might consider to pursue a food chemistry career. Although we were scheduled for one hour, group curiosity and enthusiasm kept us engaged for nearly 90 minutes. Thank you to Kalsec!
For more information about SWMCN, please visit our website. If you or your company/institution would like to join us or offer a tour or resources for local chemistry instructors, please send an email to one of us on our Contacts page.
Kalsec tour group with snacks in the sensory lab (L-R): Jason Frink (Portage Central High School), Dustin Himebauch (Climax-Scotts High School), Rebecca Joyce (KAMSC), David Bolliet (Kalsec director of analytical R&D, tour guide), Doug Williams (retired from Kalsec and chemistry network coordinator), Alexis (Lexi) Mack (Hamilton High School), Joshua Willoughby (Schoolcraft High School)
Tribute to Gabe Kornis, KACS Member and 59-Year ACS Member
Gabe was a very private person who contributed ātrip reportsā for publication in The KalChemist News when he attended ACS meetings in retirement, was a faithful reader of The KalChemist News – he regularly sent encouraging comments on each issue – and for a few years enjoyed joining other retired chemists at our KACSā Bellās Event. The absence of his e-mail comments on our KACS newsletter prompted me to search for information about him, which is when I finally found his obituaries in C&EN December 2025 p. 65 and on the Royal Society of Chemistry website https://www.rsc.org/news/obituaries/gabe-i-kornis Gabe Kornis had died on July 26, 2025.
As an alumnus of the University of New South Wales (UNSW) {Bachelor of Science in 1958 (Honours in Chemistry) and PhD in 1962} The Kornis family established The Kornis Family Visiting Lectureship in Chemistry to support distinguished national and international visitors who are experts in the field of medicinal and/or organic chemistry to deliver lectures at UNSW.
āMolecular Basketsā Topic of Upcoming Seminar
Dr. Jovica D. BadjiÄ, a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at The Ohio State University, will present a seminar on the topic of āMolecular Baskets as Abiotic Sequesters of Toxic Drugsā on Monday, February 23 at 3 p.m. in the WMU Chemistry Building Rm. 1260.
Molecular baskets with amino acids at their rim are cup-shaped molecules capable of forming inclusion complexes with a variety of complementary guests in water. Our most recent computational and experimental efforts center on developing baskets capable of including toxic anticancer methotrexate and synthetic opioid fentanyl in their binding pockets. This lecture will describe discoveries related to the preparation of such hosts and the role of noncovalent interactions and hydrophobic effect for their assembly/recognition characteristics in abiotic and biotic environments.