About Dayton
The beginnings of the Dayton Section date back to 1929. The first official Chair of the Section was Dr. C.A. Thomas, who served from 1931-1932. Our current membership exceeds 400, covering the counties of Montgomery, Greene, Miami, Clarke, Preble, and Darke. As a section, we promote scientific outreach through a number of different activities, including:
- An annual poster session featuring awards for quality posters from undergraduate and graduate student research.
- The Patterson-Crane Award, a biennial award (joint with the Columbus Section) to acknowledge meritorious contributions to chemistry.
- The Patterson College Chemistry Award: an annual award for the best junior-level chemistry majors in the area.
- Various annual high school chemistry awards.
- Hands-on outreach events with middle school students.
- Booths and hands-on activities for National Chemistry Week and Techfest.
- Sponsorship of science fairs in the region.
- Networking events.
- Please see the activities page for full details about our events.
In the years of 1997, 1998, and 1999, the Section won outright or was a co-winner of the American Chemical Society ChemLuminary Award for Outstanding Performance by a Local Section in the medium-medium section category. Since then, the Dayton Section has been nominated for this award (an honor in itself) but has not won it. The Section has also been given an award for Special Recognition for Outstanding Public Relations Program in 1996, an Honorable Mention for Support of National Chemistry Week in 1998, and was runner-up for Outstanding Achievement by a Local Section in Government Affairs in 2001. The Section has also obtained an Innovative Project Grant from the National ACS to provide hands-on chemistry experiences to local schools without chemistry labs or classes, and more recently a grant from the Committee on Community Activities in support of our activities at Techfest.
The Dayton Section of the American Chemical Society is a Member Society of The Affiliate Societies Council of Dayton.
