FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | December 03, 2009

Security expert named president-elect of world’s largest scientific society

WASHINGTON, Dec. 3, 2009 — Nancy B. Jackson, Ph.D., a chemical engineer and manager of the International Chemical Threat Reduction Department at Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, N.M., has been named president-elect of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world’s largest scientific society. She will serve in this position, beginning Jan. 1, 2010, becoming ACS president Jan. 1, 2011.

Jackson spearheads Sandia’s efforts to prevent the use of chemicals as weapons by terrorists and others intent on doing harm. Her office also supports the U.S. Department of State Chemical Security Engagement Program (CSP), which teaches safety and security to chemists and chemical engineers in universities and industry around the world. Her international expertise could serve her well when she becomes ACS president because 2011 has been designated as the International Year of Chemistry by the United Nations.

“As president, I will take ACS to a leadership position in the International Year of Chemistry, partnering with our sister societies around the world to make the most of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to improve the image of chemical science,” Jackson said. “I will use the International Year of Chemistry to demonstrate chemistry’s value and the need for chemistry to address the world’s most challenging issues.”

A member of ACS since 1980, Jackson served on the Society’s board of directors from 2004 to 2006. She has also served on numerous ACS committees and task forces including those overseeing international affairs and the ACS Petroleum Research Fund. She was a member of the ACS Task Force on Governance and has served on the Chemical & Engineering News Advisory Board.

“Nothing could be more important to the health of our profession than communicating effectively with the public,” Jackson said. “It is time that we resolve to take whatever steps are necessary to inform the public of the importance — and wonder — of the central science of chemistry.”

In addition to ACS, Jackson is a member of the American Indian Science & Engineering Society, and the International Union of Pure & Applied Chemists. She co-chaired studies by the National Research Council in 2006 and 2008 and served on the Board of Trustees at Rocky Mountain College from 2002 to 2008. In 2005, she was named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and Professional of the Year by the American Indian Science and Engineering Society. Jackson earned her B.S. degree from George Washington University in 1979 and her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Texas in 1986 and 1990, respectively.

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