Tom Holme came up with the idea to raise $100,000 to endow the graduate student travel grant program that we are using cash for at the moment. The idea is to generate $5000 a year for the program. We hope to get matching dollars from the National ACS. The ACS will match gifts of $2500 minimum, spread over a maximum 5 year period. We will name the program after the largest contributor(s).
I contacted John Engelman from S.C. Johnson to get the TAG started at that company. We will establish a budget and a timeline to spread the group throughout our 9 county local section area. Only 10 of the 189 ACS sections currently have such a group.
We are trying to raise membership, industrial and academic support for the 2006 Great Lakes Regional Meeting to be held in the Milwaukee or Waukesha area in early June of that year. It would bring approximately 1000 chemists to our section. We hope to showcase the new Aldrich Chemical facility, which should be open then, as well as other companies or schools that want to attract employees, business, students, graduate students and faculty. We will include local companies, High School education and surface science as parts of the program. Our section hosted successful Great Lakes meetings in 1986, '92 and '98. Next June the meeting is at Loyola of Chicago, and 2004 is in Peoria.
We want to have a local section meeting to attract Student Affiliates, possibly in September. The idea is to get them energized and involved in the local section, such as with National Chemistry Week in October. This would be a counterpart to the April Education Awards meetings.
I contacted the national office regarding the ACS Investment Pool. There are 35 sections and divisions that are invested. The fund size is over 200 million dollars with 80% of it being the National ACS reserves. The minimum investment is $5000. The fund has made money (typically 10%) 26 of the last 33 years (1969-2001) with 4 years being approximately even. The fund is designed for long term investment with an expected inflation-adjusted return of 5.5% and a low yearly expense of 0.30%. Information can be accessed on the national ACS website under investment pool.
Submitted by Tom McLinn
