Laura Sremaniak
| Members are at the heart of the ACS. Helping our members with resources and mechanisms to engage with other scientists is paramount, but difficult given the size and breadth of the ACS with 250,000 individuals within our community from over 180 countries and across different career stages and workplace sectors. |
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Laura (far left) with awardees at a North Carolina local section meeting
As a member and Chair of the Membership Affairs Committee, I gained great appreciation for the complexity of this endeavor. Guided by membership data, we implemented our current, more flexible membership model with tiers of benefits at different price points. We conducted many market tests, some of which become permanent such as the world bank pricing model and partnerships with other science Societies (most recently with the German Chemical Society-Herzlich Willkommen!). We added new benefits such as LinkedIn Learning and worked alongside the membership staff to achieve improvements in digital interfaces for a more seamless member experience. And this work is continuing!
While it is true that there is a wide range of what members are seeking in the ACS from those who are joining to be part of a movement that communicates and celebrates great science to others who are looking for very targeted benefits like access to publications, undergirding it all is our professional community. A flourishing professional community is the very fabric of the ACS and the centerpiece of my campaign for President-Elect: making the ACS the most welcoming, engaging, and relevant professional home for all in the chemical sciences!
This member-centered framework is how I would approach working alongside members, volunteer leaders, and ACS staff to ensure we are promoting our larger ACS community by strengthening the more personal ones—the divisions, local sections, and international and student chapters. Ideas for improvement include maximizing meeting experiences, promoting member engagement, personalized communications, and providing resources to volunteers to ease their administrative burdens.
Let’s make the ACS the most vibrant and welcoming professional home for all in the chemical sciences!
Learn more and let me know your thoughts on how membership can be improved at laura4acs.org, find me on LinkedIn, and please remember to vote!
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Lisa McElwee-White
| As a candidate for 2027 ACS President-Elect, I have been thinking about where the ACS should put its efforts in the future. We, as the ACS, should still serve our members and provide benefits, a sense of community, educational materials, and scientific communication through meetings and publications. That has not changed. However, the political climate for science has been changing fast and the ACS must respond to outside forces. |
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| Lisa McElwee-White in Brno, Czechia at a Technical Training School |
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My platform of communicate, educate, advocate still has it right but we need to turn our attention more outward toward issues of public policy and global engagement with international chemistry colleagues.
What do I bring to the table that could advance these goals? As a university administrator, I gained experience with development work, convincing both individual and corporate donors of the value of financially supporting chemistry at my institution. I know how to sell the value of science and I know how to utilize resources that result from these efforts. Likewise, I have interacted with state and local elected officials on matters that concerned science and my institution. I know how to discuss public policy with decision makers.
At a moment when the ACS is rightfully emphasizing its global reach, I also bring an established international presence. Yes, I am an ACS Fellow but I am also an IUPAC Fellow, who has presented talks on six continents. I have been a non-EU member of three EU COST Actions (research centers) and an EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network (ITN). The photo was taken when I was in Brno, Czechia as an instructor for a Technical Training School for graduate students supported by the ITN. These international activities have resulted in my current scientific collaborations with colleagues in seven different countries. I know how to make productive connections with international scientists in chemistry and related fields.
I believe we can bring the ACS further into the national and international conversation about the future of science while preserving the member features we value. Come with me and let's do this! |
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