A conversation with Dr Mary Kirchhoff (ACS)

On Friday, Nov. 17th, CSIE|UM hosted Dr. Mary Kirchhoff, from the American Chemical Society, where she currently serves as the Executive Vice President for Scientific Advancement and the Director of the ACS Green Chemistry Institute.  Dr. Kirchhoff also served as the Director of the ACS Education Division for 11 years previously. Before joining the ACS, Dr. Kirchhoff taught at Trinity College in Washington, DC for nine years where she enjoyed interacting directly with and teaching students.

Dr. Kirchhoff shared about the different positions she has held at the ACS and about the resources the ACS offers to graduate students, professors, and the scientific community.  These resources include the Petroleum Research Fund (PRF), a funding source for chemistry faculty, and the ACS Summer School on Green Chemistry, a week long intensive for graduate students and post-docs on sustainable futures for chemistry.  She also discussed the importance of science policy and the role the ACS plays in giving guidance to new rules and legislations in Washington.  Finally, Dr. Kirchhoff shared about initiatives of the ACS to increase chemistry experiments, demonstrations, and data in science museums as it is currently the one of the least represented field in most science museums.