19 MILL ROAD PHONE (978) 456‑8622

HARVARD, MA 01451 FAX (978) 456‑8949

July 30, 2004

TO: Section and Division Chairs, Editors of Newsletters and Chairs of Academic Departments

FROM: Paul Vouros, 2005 Chair of the Esselen Award Committee

SUBJECT: Request for Nominations for the 2005 Esselen Award for Chemistry in the Public Interest

The Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society is pleased to invite nominations of worthy candidates for the Gustavus John Esselen Award for Chemistry in the Public Interest. This award recognizes a chemist for outstanding achievement in scientific and technical work that contributes to the public well‑being. The award consists of a $5000 prize and a medal of recognition. The presentation takes place at an award ceremony in April at Harvard University, followed by a formal address by the awardee. The tentative date for this ceremony is April 14, 2005.

The award was established in 1987 to honor the memory of Gustavus John Esselen, a distinguished member of the Northeastern Section. The first awardees were F. Sherwood Rowland and Mario J. Molina, who subsequently received the Nobel Prize.

As can be seen by the list of past awardees on the enclosed announcement, any field of chemistry is valid as long as the scientific work has clearly contributed to the public well‑being and its value to society has become apparent within the last five years.

The announcement details the nature of the award and the criteria and procedure for nominations. Futher information is available at www.nesacs.org. With this letter I am seeking your nominations of a colleague(s) whose work meets the criteria and purpose of the award.

The deadline for nominations is October 15, 2004.

We would appreciate your posting the award brochure and distributing copies, as appropriate. Thank you in advance for your interest.

Enclosure

NOMINATIONS SOUGHT

GUSTAVUS JOHN ESSELEN AWARD

FOR

CHEMISTRY IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST

The Esselen Award for Chemistry in the public interest is one of the most prestigious honors provided by the Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society. The award annually recognizes a chemist whose scientific and technical work has contributed to the public well‑being, and has thereby communicated positive values of the chemical profession. The Awardee should be a living resident of the United States or Canada at the time of nomination, and the significance of this work should have become apparent within the five years preceding nomination.

The Esselen Award has no limitations with respect to the chemical field in which the nominees are active. Since its inception, the award has been given to the following chemists (see over for subjects):

1987: F. Sherwood Rowland 1995: Howard J. Schaeffer

Mario J. Molina

1996: Roy G. Gordon

1988: Alfred P Wolf

Joanna S. Fowler 1997: Rangaswamy Srinivasan

1989: Carl Djerassi 1998: Kyriacos C. Nicolaou

1990: Thomas J. Dougherty 1999: Robert S. Langer

1991: Jerrold Meinwald 2000: William A. Pryor

Thomas Eisner

2001: Joseph M. DeSimone

1992: Bruce N. Ames 2002: Ronald Breslow

1993: James G. Anderson 2003: Bruce D. Roth

1994: Kary B. Mullis 2004: James W. Jorgenson

THE AWARD CONSISTS OF A MEDAL AND A CHECK FOR $5,000. Travel expenses incidental to the conferring of this award will be reimbursed. The award will usually be held in Cambridge, Massachusetts at the April meeting of the Northeastern Section. The Awardee will deliver an address on the subject of the work for which the honor is being conferred, or for work in progress which is also directed to chemistry in the public interest.

TO NOMINATE a candidate, please provide statements from two co‑sponsors as well as a brief biography of the candidate, a description of the work which has been recognized as communicating the positive values of the chemistry profession and copies of selected, pertinent articles. Popular news and feature articles should be included as an indication of public interest. Nominations and inquiries should be directed to Dr. Paul Vouros, c/o Karen Piper, 19 Mill Road, Harvard, MA 01451. NOMINATIONS SHOULD BE POSTED NO LATER THAN OCTOBER 15, 2004. Joint nominations are acceptable. The Committee will review the nominations and the award recipient will be notified by the first of February.