Distinguished Service Award

The Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering is pleased to announce that John Lupinski is the recipient of the Division's Distinguished Service Award for the year 2001.

John joined the Division of Organic Coatings and Plastics Chemistry in 1977 and became Library Subscription Manager in 1978. When unexpectedly in 1980 a vacancy developed for the Treasurer's function, John was asked to complete the remainder of the term. Subsequently, he was elected Treasurer in 1981 for a two-year term. At the beginning of this three-year period, the financial condition of the Division was weak, a budget deficit was forecast, and it looked as if a dues increase would be necessary. It turned out, however, that with tight control of expenses and frugal financial management, the financial situation of the Division was improved without a dues increase. By 1983 the Division's finances were healthy enough to allow $20,000.00 to be transferred to the reserves in the operating account.

Subsequently, John went through the other officer positions (Vice Chair in 1984, Chair Elect in 1985, Chair in 1986 and Past Chair in 1987). During these years, he was charged by Marco Wismer to incorporate the Division and was also involved in its name change. The incorporation turned out to be a lengthy affair requiring negotiations with ACS Governance, Officers of other Divisions and Legal Advisors and also required modification of the Division's By-Laws. The incorporation was complete in 1985.

John was elected Councilor in 1988, and in the following twelve years, he served as an associate member of the ACS Budget and Finance Committee. Additionally, he was a member of the Divisional Activities Committee, chairing a subcommittee on the development of a policy to dissolve Divisions no longer pertinent to their original charter. He also chaired a subcommittee on divisional status and was a member of the Council Policy Committee's Task Force on Council Travel Reimbursement. John has been a member of the ACS Admissions Committee, and he was briefly Treasurer of the Washington, D.C. local Section.

Since 1992 John has managed PMSE's operating account investments and accounts covering the Doolittle, Tess and Cooperative Research Awards as well as the Ford Travel Grant. Responding to a changing investment climate, PMSE's portfolio containing all fixed income securities was transferred to a more diversified portfolio containing stocks, mutual funds and bonds in order to provide for a steady growth of its assets. As a result, the pay-outs of the Doolittle and Tess Awards were recently doubled and the pay-out of the Cooperative Research Award was increased by fifty percent.

John studied chemistry at the University of Leyden in the Netherlands from 1945 to 1960. During that time he held several short-term jobs in order to provide for the continuation of his studies. He worked as a chemist in the Plastics Institute, TNO (Delft, Groningen) from 1948-1949, as a Laboratory Supervisor in the Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory of Leyden University from 1949-1951, as a patent and literature searcher at NIDER in the Hague from 1951-1953, and as a staff member at the Department of Theoretical Organic Chemistry of Leyden University from 1954-1960. He obtained all his degrees from Leyden University; B.S. in 1949, M.S. in 1954 and Ph.D. cum laude in 1959. From 1960-1992 John was employed by General Electric at its Corporate Research and Development Center in Schenectady, New York, originally as an individual contributor, and from 1972 until his retirement, he served in several management positions. After his retirement in 1992, John was a consultant for two years.