• ALL-MEMBER Invitation to ACS’ 150th
• KACS Awards Gathering at WMEDIC
• Comments from the 2026 KACS Chair
• Go ‘Into the Woods’ with Chemistry!
• Support Chemistry Educators through BCCE 2026
• News from Council and a Request from the Ethics Committee
• KACS Calendar

ALL-MEMBER Invitation to ACS’ 150th

ALL MEMBERS are invited to a celebration of ACS’ 150th birthday!

The first organizational meeting of the American Chemical Society was held at the New York College of Pharmacy and was led by Charles F. Chandler. An interactive anniversary timeline, videos and more are available online at ACS.org/150.

Join the Virtual ACS Founding Day Celebration on Monday, April 6

This anniversary belongs to all of us. We hope you will join us in celebrating 150 years of impact.

You are invited to the 150th virtual celebration — Monday, April 6 at 10 a.m. ET

Register to join a free virtual 150th Anniversary Celebration

KACS Awards Gathering at WMEDIC

Members and their families are welcome to join this celebration on Monday, May 11 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at The WMED Innovation Center (WMEDIC), 4717 Campus Drive, Kalamazoo, where we will be recognizing our 60-year and our 50-year ACS members — Kenneth Abate, William E. Heyd, Thomas L. Miller, Ekkehard Sinn, Herman W. Smith, Robert Alway, Paul Rahn, and Henry Schostarez — along with Chemistry students at various stages of their careers, as well as others who continue to serve our section.

We will have hors d’oeuvres available for attendees, so if you have not yet done so, please let Joe Chemler or Lydia Hines know of your attendance plans. We look forward to interacting with each other, as well as encouraging one another, in this celebratory setting.

Comments from the 2026 KACS Chair

Go ‘Into the Woods’ with Chemistry!

Support Chemistry Educators through BCCE 2026

Registration

The Biennial Conference on Chemical Education (BCCE 2026)—ACS’s premier conference for chemistry educators—will be held July 26–30, 2026, in Madison, WI, with a focus on reflecting on past progress while shaping the future of chemistry education.

We invite ACS Local Sections to support this flagship event by supporting the attendance of a high school teacher and/or two-year college instructor from your section. These contributions expand access to professional development, strengthen local–national connections, and invest directly in the chemistry education workforce. [Our KACS has support budgeted for attendance at this meeting; check https://kalamazooacs.org/grants/ if there is interest]

All participating Local Sections will be recognized by the conference. For attendance support options, please contact the BCCE 2026 organizing team at bcce2026@union.wisc.edu.

News from Council and a Request from the Ethics Committee (ETHX)

By Lydia E.M. Hines
Councilor

(a more detailed report may be found on the website)

· Candidates selected by councilors for the 2027 President-elect ballot are Lisa McElwee-White and Laura Sremaniak

· Past-president of the ACS Charles Casey (Univ of Wisconsin – Madison) passed away in 2025

· The CCA (Committee on Community Activities) is developing an online activity library for Local Sections’ use

· If invited, the current ACS president (Rigoberto Hernandez) and President-Elect (Christina Bodurow) would be happy to schedule visits to our local section for a meeting

· Sri Lanka received approval as the newest International Science Chapter.

· There were 13,521 registrants at the Spring Meeting in Atlanta, with 12,475 in person, 1,046 on-line. The Fall meeting will be in Chicago, August 23-27.

· In celebration of its 20th anniversary, the Ethics Committee of the ACS (ETHX) invites members to send them comments in response to the question “What are the responsibilities of Chemists?” Comments may be sent to ETHX@acs.org