Top 20 U.S. high school chemistry students compete for spot on US International Chemistry Olympiad team

WASHINGTON, May 29, 2012 — As students across the country are leaving academics behind for the summer, fifteen boys and five girls are doing quite the opposite. They are headed for the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., to attend a study camp where they will compete for a spot on the U.S. International Chemistry Olympiad Team.

During the camp, the students will receive college-level training, with an emphasis on organic chemistry, through a series of lectures, problem-solving exercises, lab work, and testing. At the camp’s conclusion, four students will be chosen to represent the U.S. at the International Chemistry Olympiad where they will compete with their peers from more than 70 nations for gold, silver and bronze medals.

For the first time since 1992, the U.S. will host the International Chemistry Olympiad, to be held July 21-30, at the University of Maryland, College Park. The American Chemical Society (ACS) is the official organizer and The Dow Chemical Company is the official sponsor of the event.

“The students who compete in the IChO are the brightest minds in chemistry,” said ACS president Bassam Shakhashiri. “These young people are the ones who will make the discoveries that shape our future by curing disease, addressing climate change, feeding our rapidly expanding population and much more.”

“At Dow, with more than 100 years of investment in STEM education programs, we know that innovation begins not only in the classroom but also in personal imagination,” said Bo Miller, Global Director for Corporate Citizenship for The Dow Chemical Company and President and Executive Director of The Dow Chemical Company Foundation. “We are excited to use the 44^th International Chemistry Olympiad as an opportunity to engage and inspire bright young scientists from across the globe to pursue careers in chemistry as a means of creating solutions to challenges that affect our planet, our communities and improve the human condition.”

The American Chemical Society has sponsored the American team annually since the United States joined the Olympiad. Principal funding is through the ACS Donald F. and Mildred Topp Othmer Olympiad Endowment with additional support from the Air Force Academy; Advanced Chemistry Development; Carolina Biological Supply Company; Flinn Scientific, Inc; Wiley & Sons Publishers; McGraw-Hill Companies; Merck Publishing Group; Prentice Hall Publishers; Texas Instruments, Inc.; University Science Books; and Sigma Aldrich Co.

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