Newsletter

Dear CACS Members and Friends:

As you know, one of our own CACS Board colleagues, Dr. Marinda Li Wu, was elected as one of two candidates to run for President of the American Chemical Society at the national ACS Council meeting in Anaheim on March 30 this year. This is indeed historic, since Marinda was not only the first Asian American ever elected to the ACS Board of Directors, but also is now the first Asian American to run for President in ACS's 135 year history.

Marinda was elected as a candidate for ACS President after a vigorous Town Hall debate and speeches delivered to Council by all four preliminary nominees. The other remaining candidate is Dr. Dennis Chamot from Washington, D.C. who is also an ACS Board member. Helping Marinda win this election will be an exciting opportunity for CACS to demonstrate our influence and outreach!

Marinda has been an ACS member for 40 years and has always been proud to be both a chemist and Chinese American. Please visit her website at www.marindawu.com for details on her background, leadership experience, and priorities. She has been a strong advocate for science and technology and has spoken out frequently on behalf of Asian Americans. She points out that although Asian Americans are not under-represented in the U.S. technical community, they are very much under-represented when it comes to being included in policy decisions or upper management in all sectors, including ACS.

ACS has over 163,000 members of which almost 14% are Asian Americans (ACS Comprehensive Salary & Employment Survey 2009). There are almost 500 elected Councilors representing the 189 local sections and 33 technical divisions. However, there are roughly only about five Chinese Americans and a few other Asian Americans elected to ACS Council -- less than 2%. Most Asian Americans excel technically through hard work and talent. However, most Asian Americans do not get involved with ACS governance, and many of them do not bother to vote.

In order to help Marinda win the ACS election this fall, we must energize and encourage Asian Americans and their colleagues to vote when the ACS ballots are mailed out in late September. Marinda's candidate statement is expected in the Sept.12 issue of C&EN.

Please encourage all ACS members you know to remember to vote for Marinda in the upcoming ACS election this fall. If you are involved with CACS picnics or other activities this summer, please help spread the word to encourage people to vote for Marinda Li Wu for ACS President.

This will be a wonderful opportunity as CACS celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2011 to show our unity and our influence in electing a fellow CACS member as President of ACS. We need to encourage more Asian Americans to become involved so we can have a greater voice in policy decisions and future directions for our profession! Marinda truly needs and hopes to count on your support. Every vote counts in this election!

Sincerely,
Yinlun Huang
Chair, Board of Directors, CACS
Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Wayne State University
Detroit, MI 48202