Outstanding Performance 1999-2006
People with a passion for science, math, engineering and technology.

Welcome

The Illinois Heartland ACS connects chemistry to the community! We are committed to building bridges with community partners to leverage scarce resources and maximize service to members and the community.

The Illinois Heartland ACS was nationally recognized with its 9th consecutive Outstanding Performance award! We also won honors for Public Relations and Communty Involvement with NCW! 2007 Annual Report is online.

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  • September 10 - Donald Hicks, Georgia State University, 7:30 PM - Presentation Topic: History Lessons for the 21st Century Chemists at Illinois State University, 225 Julian Hall, Bloomington - Normal
  • September 11 - Student Research Poster Session 6:00 pm - Fell Dining Hall, Watterson Towers @ Illinois State University. Please send your abstract (less than 200 words) electronically to Craig McLauchlan at ccmclau@ilstu.edu by midnight on September 8th. 2008. Illinois State University President Dr. C. Al Bowman will be speaking after the poster session (7pm).
  • September 27th, Harry Potter's Return to Hogwarts, Glen Oak Park, Peoria IL at 5:00-8:30 pm.
  • Nominations are due by November 14, 2008 for the 2008-2009 academic year. Winners will be honored at the January Banquet.
    • High School Teacher of the Year
    • Collegiate Scholars
    • Chemist of the Year

Vision

The Illinois Heartland American Chemical Society is building a sustainable, high achievement organization of networked, caring professionals following a shared vision. The Illinois Heartland ACS is recognized and respected as an effective advocate for the chemical sciences and provides outstanding service to its members. Illinois Heartland ACS members are committed, informed, and effective leaders. Illinois Heartland ACS education programs enhance knowledge by generating, sharing and making information available to the community. Illinois Heartland ACS is a sought-after source of knowledge and objective information by researchers, educators, and the public.

We are the ACS!

The Illinois Heartland American Chemical Society has 240 chemist, chemical engineers, and educators in a 10 county area in central Illinois, including Peoria, Bloomington-Normal, Henry, Jacksonville and Galesburg. We are the local chapter of the world's largest volunteer, professional organization, the American Chemical Society (ACS). We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. We invest in our local community by providing science education opportunities through seminars, meetings, workshops, summer internships, competitions, special activities, and partnerships with other non-profit, volunteer or professional organizations. Almost all events are free and open to the public.

Schedule 2008

  • January 20 (Sunday) - 4-7 pm, Mackinaw Valley Vineyard- Chemist of the Year - Gary Welch. Presentation at 5 pm. Hot Buffet. $10/person at the door.
  • January 30 - 11 am - Dial in to listen to Jill Rockwood address a national audience about the Illinois Heartland's Chemists Celebrate Earth Day activities with the Forest Park Nature Center (Peoria Park District). Please call 1-800-860-2442 and ask for the Ingrid Montes/Wayne Jones call on “Chemists Celebrate Earth Day Events”.  
  • Friday, February 15th & Saturday, February 16th @ Hotel Pere Marquette
    The Peoria Area World Affairs Council presents the 38th annual Central Illinois World Affairs Conference, entitled “The Geopolitics of Climate Change: Competition for Limited Resources.” The conference will take place from 5 to 9pm on February 15th and from 8am to 2:30pm on February 16th. For more information, call 677-2454 or register online at artstix.artspartners.net.
  • February 20 - 7:30 pm - Coffee, Mountains, and Chemistry (Illinois State University visits Universidad de Caldas – Colombia, South America) - Profs. Marjorie A. Jones, David L. Cedeno, & Mark Wirtz. Illinois Central College, East Peoria Campus, One College Drive, East Peoria, IL, Academic Building Room 327A. East Peoria Campus Map --- Academic Building Floorplan Join us for dinner at Jonah's Seafood House in East Peoria at 5:30 pm. RSVP to Steve Hughes at stephen.hughes@ars.usda.gov by February 19. Map
  • February 26 - Science Cafe at Kelleher's Irish Pub (on the Riverfront in Peoria, IL). 6-8 pm. Ethanol: Food or Fuel? Join us for a lively discussion. Hot snacks, cheese & crackers, and vegetables will be provided. Please contact Vicki (victoria.finkenstadt (at) ars.usda.gov) for more information. Mapquest
  • March 4 - Tri-Valley Science Night, Children's Discovery Museum (Normal IL), 6-8pm. This will feature the ISU chemistry club as well as our Jill Rockwood and her outreach folks!! Audience: 250 K-3rd grade students and their families
  • March 18 - 7:30 pm - Lecture - Speaker: Al Hazari; Topic: Chemistry in Comics, Location: Eureka College, Becker Auditorium
  • April 6-10 - ACS National Meeting - New Orleans, LA
  • April 9 - 54th annual William Thomas Jackson Lecture in Science -- Dr. William McShea at 7:30 p.m. in Becker Auditorium in the Cerf Center at Eureka College.  Dr. McShea’s presentation topic is entitled “Saving the World One Species at a Time: What Western Science Can Do for Developing Countries.”  
  • April 14 - Lecture - Speaker: Chuck Galloway Topic: Land of Opportunity: Foreign-born Inventors in the National Hall of Fame.
  • April 17 - 11th Annual Kolb Lecture - Bassam Shakhashiri, "ENLIGHTENMENT AND THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ENLIGHTENED IN COMMUNICATING CHEMISTRY" at Bradley University 4:30 P.M. Olin Hall of Science Room 168
  • April 19 - Streaming Chemistry! Earth Day at Forest Park Nature Center (Peoria, IL), 11am-4 pm. FREE
  • April 20-21 - The 2008 Clean Water Celebration will be held on the Peoria Riverfront on Sunday, April 20th, and at the Civic Center on Monday, April 21st. "A Parade of Waters" will kick off the celebration at noon on Sunday, with community leaders and dignitaries making presentations and signing a document pledging a commitment to improving the quality and health of the Illinois River. A 3-mile "Walk for the Earth, Wind & Water" will take place at 1pm, with all proceeds to benefit the Clean Water Celebration. NASA environmental engineer, Dr. Jacqueline Quinn, will make a presentation of her work on groundwater mediation, "A Slippery Solution to Environmental Contamination," at the dinner at 6:30pm on Sunday. On Monday, the Celebration continues from 9am to 2pm at the Civic Center with keynote sessions, a storytelling performance and various other events. The Clean Water Celebration is a truly unique event in Peoria, a joint effort between The Sun Foundation and the Rivers Project, a high school program coordinated by Southern Illinois University. For more information, call 697-1325.
  • May 3 - The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, in partnership with Peoria County Recycling, is hosting a Household Hazardous Waste event, from 8am to 3pm at Expo Gardens. Residents may drop off oil-based paints, aerosol products, lawn and garden chemicals, household batteries, old gasoline, used motor oil and compact fluorescent light bulbs. For a complete list of acceptable items, visit www.peoriacounty.org/recycle/files and select the Household Hazardous Waste file. For more information, call 681-2550.
  • May 7 - High School Chemistry Contest at Bradley University. 8 am. Chemistry SHOW during lunch.
  • May 14 - ADVANCING INNOVATION THROUGH FINANCIAL AND TECHNOLOGY STRATEGIES, a workshop presented by Peoria NEXT and the Bradley Univeristy Technology Commercialization Center. 8am-4pm. Register today! Contact Shirley at 309.677.4429 or email her at sdl@bradley.edu.
  • August 8-17 - Illinois State Fair
  • August 17-21 - ACS National Meeting - Philadelphia, PA
  • September 10 - Lecture - Speaker: Don Hicks Topic: Seven strange twists that created the huge US chemical industry
  • September 11 - Student Research Poster Session, Illinois State University President Al Bowman
  • October 16 - Lecture - Speaker: Peter Reilly Topic: Working in the Tropics on Food Problems
  • October 19-25 - National Chemistry Week
  • November - Election

Corporate Partners

Awards

Community Partners

Financial - 2006

Communication

Education

Outreach

Miscellaneous

Contact Us

2008

Chair: Dr. Nasib Qureshi, NCAUR-USDA, nasib.qureshi (at) ars.usda.gov
Chair-Elect: Dr. Joseph Rich, NCAUR-USDA, joseph.rich (at) ars.usda.gov
Secretary: Dr. Kenneth Doll, NCAUR-USDA, kenneth.doll (at) ars.usda.gov
Treasurer: Prof. Brad Andresh, Bradley University, bja (at) bradley.edu
Past-Chair (Awards): Dr. Kervin Evans, NCAUR-USDA, kervin.evans (at) ars.usda.gov
Councilor: Dr. Vicki Finkenstadt, NCAUR-USDA, victoria.finkenstadt (at) ars.usda.gov, 309-681-6469
Alt. Councilor: Prof. Marjorie Jones, Illinois State University, majone3 (at) ilstu.edu

Chemistry Olympiad: Prof. Dean Campbell, Bradley University, campbell (at) bradley.edu
Hospitality & Arrangements: Steve Hughes, NCAUR-USDA, stephen.hughes (at) ars.usda.gov
Outreach Coordinator: Thank you, Jill Rockwood, for all your service!
Earth Day: Please contact us if you would like to organize celebrations in April 2009!
Harry Potter Return to Hogwarts (Glen Oak in Peoria): Hind Abi-Akar
Science Saturdays at Lakeview Museum: Please contact us if you would like to organize in 2009!
Chemistry Day (National Chemistry Week): Marjorie Jones, ISU, majone3 (at) ilstu.edu
Project SEED (HS summer internship): Prof. David Cedeno, Illinois State University, dcedeno (at) ilstu.edu
Website: Vicki Finkenstadt, victoria.finkenstadt (at) ars.usda.gov
Women Chemists: Prof. Lisa Szczepura, Illinois State University, lfszcze (at) ilstu.edu
Younger Chemists & Student Research Posters: Prof. Craig McLaughlin, Illinois State University, ccmclau (at) ilstu.edu
High School Chemistry Contest: Profs Michelle Fry and Wayne Bosma, Bradley University, mfry (at) bradley.edu; bosma (at) bradley.edu

Online April 2000:

The Illinois Heartland American Chemical Society is building a sustainable, high achievement organization of networked, caring professionals following a shared vision.