Candidates’ election statements and backgrounds

Two candidates will vie for the office of president-elect of the American Chemical Society for 2022 in this fall’s election. They are Judith C. Giordan, managing director and vice president of ecosVC, and John C. Warner, senior vice president of Zymergen and Distinguished Professor of Green Chemistry at Monash University. The successful candidate will serve as ACS president in 2023 and as a member of the ACS Board of Directors from 2022 to 2024.

Candidates for director of District I are D. Richard Cobb, a retired senior research associate formerly of Eastman Kodak, and Katherine L. Lee, a senior director at Pfizer.

District I consists of members assigned to or residing in local sections with headquarters in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania (except the Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Southeastern Pennsylvania Sections) and Vermont, and those members with addresses in the states of New York and Pennsylvania who are not assigned to local sections.

District V will also be holding elections for director. The candidates are Lisa M. Balbes, owner of Balbes Consultants and a freelance technical writer and editor, and Joseph A. Heppert, vice president for research at Texas Tech University. District V consists of members assigned to or residing in local sections with headquarters in Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan (except the Detroit, Huron Valley, Michigan State University, Midland, and Western Michigan Sections), Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico (except the Rio Grande Valley Section), North Dakota, South Dakota, Urtah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, and those members with addresses in Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan (except Dickinson County), Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin who are not assigned to local sections. The winners of Districts I and V will serve on the ACS Board of Directors beginning in 2022 and running through 2024.

Four candidates are running for two director-at-large positions. They are Rodney M. Bennett, owner of Winding Trails; Arlene A. Garrison, a retired vice president formerly of Oak Ridge Associated Universities; Natalie A. LaFranzo, a vice president with Cofactor Genomics; and Lee H. Latimer, a drug development consultant with LHLatimer Consulting. The two candidates receiving the highest number of votes will serve a 3-year term from 2022 to 2024.

Balloting will be conducted online, with the option to receive a paper ballot upon request. Ballots will be distributed starting Sept. 27 with a voting deadline of Oct. 22. ACS members eligible to vote received information in early September on how to request a paper ballot.

All voting members of ACS may receive ballots enabling them to vote for president-elect. Only members with mailing addresses in Districts I and V may receive ballots to vote for director from those districts. Only voting councilors may receive ballots for the director-at-large elections.

The ACS Committee on Nominations and Elections did not provide candidates with specific questions to frame their statements. Information about ACS policies for elections and campaigning can be found in the ACS Governing Documents, Standing Rule IV, Sec. 18, and in “Guidelines for Campaigning and Communication.” Candidates’ views have also been posted online at www.acs.org/elections.