Former Lucent – Bell Labs chemist elected to board of world’s largest scientific society

Contact: Michael Bernstein

(202) 872-4400

m_bernstein@acs.org

Valerie J. Kuck, a chemist and former staff member at Lucent Technologies – AT&T Bell Labs, has been elected to the board of directors of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society. She will begin a 3-year term in January 2007 as director-at-large.

Kuck received her B.S. from St. Mary of the Woods College in 1961 and her M.S. from Purdue University in 1965, and has been a visiting professor at Seton Hall University in the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department. She and her husband, Mark, reside in Montclair, N.J.

An ACS member since 1965, Kuck has served on or chaired more than a dozen national Society committees and task forces and has been active at the local level, serving as a councilor for the New Jersey Local Section and chairing National Chemistry Week efforts for the section.

One of Kuck’s areas of interest is education. “The Society should increase its support of K-12 teachers who need to have quick access to better ways of presenting scientific concepts and to ideas for hands-on activities and demonstrations,” she says. “Young students need to learn that chemistry plays a vital role in everyday life and that chemists have made numerous contributions to improving the quality of life. Education efforts need to extend to the university level as well.”

The American Chemical Society — the world’s largest scientific society — is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.