Tom Barton becomes 2014 president of world’s largest scientific society

WASHINGTON— Thomas J. Barton, Ph.D., a distinguished professor emeritus of chemistry at Iowa State University and former director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames National  Laboratory, will lead the American Chemical Society (ACS) as president in 2014.

“I’ve had a great life, and chemistry has been a huge part of the reason for it,” Barton says. “I want to repay my profession by addressing many of the challenges facing it.”

According to Barton, those challenges include the quality of science education in our nation’s secondary schools and improving the public image of chemistry.

“Educating nonscientists about the fundamental importance of chemistry is essential. Ours is an enabling science, and the world depends upon our success far more than is commonly recognized,” Barton says.

He earned a B.S. in chemistry from Lamar University, Beaumont, Texas in 1962 and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Florida in 1967, the same year he completed a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellowship at the Ohio State University.

Tom and his wife, Betty, have lived in Ames, Iowa for more than 46 years.

The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 163,000 members, ACS is the world’s largest scientific society 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.

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