November 17, 2008
Francisco named president-elect of American Chemical Society
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - |
Francisco will be president-elect in 2009 and take over as the society's president in 2010. He will be the second African-American, but the first from academia, named as president of the society, which was founded in 1876. The first African-American president was industrial chemistry leader Henry Hill in 1977. The society has more than 160,000 members in chemistry, chemical engineering and related fields.
Francisco will succeed 2009 president Thomas H. Lane, a director with the Dow Corning Corp. and a 1974 Purdue chemistry graduate. Francisco said the theme for his term will be bridging the gaps for the future of the chemical enterprise through partnerships that engage industry, academia and government. He said he plans to work to attract a broader pool of students into the chemical sciences to keep the enterprise healthy; prepare all members to be able to thrive in a global economy; and promote innovation, entrepreneurship and sustainability in the chemical sciences.
"I am honored to have been selected as president-elect and president by my colleagues worldwide," Francisco said. "This is the honor of my career. I will do my best to inspire more young people to look at the sciences as a worthy career field, but more importantly work to help the American Chemical Society create job opportunities for its members."
Francisco holds a dual appointment in chemistry and earth and atmospheric sciences and specializes in atmospheric chemistry. He has worked with chlorofluorocarbons, mapping the pathways of these and lesser-researched compounds to understand how they break down in the atmosphere. His recent work has focused on illuminating the role clouds play in the chemistry of the atmosphere.
Last year Francisco was awarded the Herbert Newby McCoy Award, Purdue's top research honor. The award is given annually to a student or faculty member in Purdue's science departments for making the year's greatest research contribution.
In August, a technical paper by Francisco and Marsha Lester of the University of Pennsylvania was published in a special edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science about the discovery of an unusual molecule that is essential to the atmosphere's ability to break down pollutants, solving a 40-year search for the molecule.
"The American Chemical Society is one of the world's most prestigious science societies, bringing together all fields of chemistry and involving scientists from academia, national labs and industry," said Jon Harbor, interim dean of the College of Science. "Joe Francisco is an outstanding individual and exemplifies the extraordinary science faculty members we have throughout Purdue. We are very pleased by his recognition. He will do an outstanding job as president."
Francisco, a native of Beaumont, Texas, earned his bachelor's degree in 1977 from the University of Texas and his doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1983. He was a postdoctoral research fellow at Cambridge University in England from 1983-85 and at MIT in 1985.
He also was president of the National Organization of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers from 2005-2007 and received the Alexander von Humboldt Research Award for Senior Scientists in 2001. He was named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2001 and a fellow at the American Physical Society in 1998.
Writer: Clyde Hughes, (765) 494-2073, jchughes@purdue.edu
Source: Joseph S. Francisco, (765) 494-7851, francisc@purdue.edu
Jon Harbor, (765) 496-1938, jharbor@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
To the News Service home page