Attila E. Pavlath

FROM THE ACS PRESIDENT, ATTILA E. PAVLATH

IT IS A SPECIAL PRIVILEGE TO preside over the worlds largest scientific organization in the year it celebrates 125 years of existence. I am certain that when that small group of chemists who started our Society thought about the future, they could not have visualized the progress we have made since 1876. Understandably their view of the Societys structure, operations, and activities was limited by the spirit of their time. Some of their contemporaries even questioned the feasibility of establishing such an organization, especially in view of the more advanced state of chemistry and chemical societies in Europe. Fortunately, there were then enough American chemists who were not easily dissuaded by this difficult task. Their goal was to create a home for those who practiced chemistry in the U.S. and to meet their professional needs. Just as the attitudes of the general population are different today from those of our 19th-century ancestors, the needs of ...