2021 Election of Officers, Councilors, Alternate Councilors for 2022
Voting Period: October 22 to November 14, 2021
Members will receive an email notification to cast their vote online. To help you be more informed when you receive this notification, the ballot along with biographies and candidate statements are shown below.
How to petition to be on the ballot
According to Section VI of our ByLaws, prior to October 15th any member or affiliate of the Section may, in writing or from the floor at a meeting to conduct governance business, nominate additional candidates for office, provided that the candidates are members of the Section and if the nomination is seconded by another member or affiliate. Nominations so made shall be equally valid as those from the Nomination Committee. All candidates nominated shall have indicated willingness to serve if elected. Written petitions can be sent to the attention of the SVACS section secretary, Prasad Raut, prsdraut@gmail.com. You may also contact Prasad with questions.
A petition must include the following: name of the proposed candidate, the proposed position, and the name and ACS membership numbers for the candidate and the person who is seconding the nomination. All petitions must be submitted by October 14, 2021, to the SVACS Secretary.
All candidates must be members of the ACS Silicon Valley Section and must be willing to serve. According to ACS bylaws, affiliate members may not participate in the election. Student members may vote and sign petitions, but they may not run for office.
Sample Ballot
Chair-Elect (3-year commitment, will be Chair-elect 2022, Chair in 2023, and Immediate Past Chair in 2024) VOTE for ONE (1)
❏ Natalie McClure
❏ Write-in _____________________________________
Treasurer (2-year term)
❏ Ihab Darwish
❏ Write-in _____________________________________
Councilor
3 open positions; the three candidates with the most votes will fill 3-year positions. Vote for three (3)
❏ Linda Brunauer
❏ Ihab Darwish
❏ Jane Frommer
❏ Sally Peters
❏ Write-in _____________________________________
Alternate Councilor
2 open positions: the two candidates with the most votes will fill the 3-year positions. Vote for two (2)
❏ Megan Brophy
❏ Anais Nguyen
❏ Write-in _____________________________________
Biographies
Chair-Elect
3-year term, Chair-Elect (2022), Chair (2023), Immediate Past Chair (2024). VOTE for ONE (1).
❏ Natalie McClure
Biography: Natalie McClure is a regulatory affairs consultant with extensive experience in drug development, regulatory affairs and quality assurance. She obtained her PhD in Organic Chemistry from Stanford University in 1979 and BS in Chemistry from the University of Michigan. She started her career as a process development chemist at Syntex Research, and transitioned to Regulatory Affairs in 1989. Natalie is also an instructor at the UC Berkeley Extension program offering several courses in drug development and regulatory affairs. Natalie also has been very active in ACS Silicon Valley section, serving as chair and councilor. Natalie currently serves on the LSAC, local sections activities committee, for ACS at the national level. She is passionate about introducing students to the excitement and fun of science.
Candidate Statement: I am running for section chair-elect again so that the Silicon Valley local section has some continuity in governance. Next year will hopefully be the year when we can return to something more resembling life before the pandemic, but we need to adjust both to the changing environment and to incorporate any positive experiences garnered from the past many months. One theme for my next term as chair-elect and then chair will be to continue to involve more people. ACS and the Silicon Valley local section is only as good as its members and volunteers. We have a constant need to maintain our membership and make sure that we are meeting their needs. Like all other companies and institutions, ACS has been forced to make changes, both at a National and Local section level. Some of these changes have been very positive (like allowing participation in evening events by zoom, avoiding the Bay area traffic) and others have been less so (I miss the human contact!). I plan to continue to serve as councilor for Silicon Valley section for a second term, to help guide ACS through these changes. I am currently serving on the LSAC (Local Section Activities Committee). This is the National ACS committee that administers the local section programs with funding opportunities, shared ideas for novel programs, celebrations at ChemLuminary award and provides advice and support for sections that are in disarray. I am also very involved in our local section activities, especially the outreach activities for students and the community.
Treasurer
2-year term (2022 – 2023). VOTE for ONE (1).
❏ Ihab Darwish
Biography: Ihab S. Darwish received his BS degree in chemistry from SUNY at Old Westbury and his MS and PhD degrees in Organic Chemistry from Princeton University. After a two-year postdoctoral appointment with Professor Marvin J. Miller, he joined Pathogenesis Corporation, a startup biotech company in Seattle focusing on chronic infectious diseases. Shortly thereafter, he joined Darwin Molecular, Inc., which was acquired by UK-based Chiroscience Group, plc., three years later. Approximately three years after that, Chiroscience merged with a second major British biotech company, Celltech, plc. In 2002, Dr. Darwish moved to the Bay Area and joined Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. where he has since worked as a medicinal chemist focusing on the development of novel, small molecule therapeutics for the treatment of viral diseases, metabolic disorders, immuno-oncology as well as cancer. Dr. Darwish joined the Santa Clara Valley Section upon moving to the Bay Area and accepted an appointment as an Alternate Councilor in August of 2005. In 2006 and again in 2009, he was elected to three-year terms as an Alternate Councilor and was appointed Treasurer of the Santa Clara Valley Section in June of 2009. In 2010, Dr. Darwish was elected as the Section Treasurer and has served in that capacity since then.
Candidate Statement: I joined the American Chemical Society early on in my career and have enjoyed the various benefits the Society offers. As Treasurer, I have continued to ensure our Local Section has the funds to carry out the Section’s stated goals and objectives. I will continue to support existing programs and explore new policies that would enhance our Local Section’s efficiency and help navigate our Section through various economic cycles. I am pleased with my record of service and appreciate your support.
Councilor
3 open positions: the three candidates with the most votes will fill 3-year positions (2022-2024). VOTE for THREE (3).
❏ Linda Brunauer
Biography: Linda Brunauer received the B. S. degree in Chemistry with an emphasis in Biochemistry from San Jose State University and the Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles. Following graduate school, she was an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Chemistry, Stanford University. In 1988 she joined the faculty of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Santa Clara University where she is currently an Associate Professor. In 1989 she was instrumental in the creation of the Northern California Undergraduate Research Symposium (NCURS) and has helped to nurture this annual regional conference where undergraduate chemistry and biochemistry majors gather to present the results of their independent research projects in a supportive environment. In 1996 she was named Faculty Advisor of the Year at Santa Clara University for her work with the SCU Chemistry Club and in 1999 she received the Ottenberg Award for Outstanding Service to the Section. In 1999 she was awarded an Excellence in Teaching Award for her work in Santa Clara University’s summer school program and in 2003 she received Santa Clara University’s highest award for teaching, the Brutocao Award for Teaching Excellence. In 2013 she received an ACS Salute to Excellence Award for her efforts supporting regional testing of the National Chemistry Olympiad. She is a passionate advocate of science education, publishing articles in the Journal of Chemical Education and, since 2007, has served as a volunteer at the Bio-Link Depot in Oakland, helping numerous high school, community college and university STEM educators in the Bay Area secure free laboratory supplies and equipment for their classroom instruction. She is active in the Silicon Valley Section of the ACS and has served as a member of the Executive Committee as Student Affairs Chairperson (1989-present) and Councilor (1998-present).
Candidate Statement: It has been an honor to serve the Section as a member of the Executive Committee. Over the past 20+ years, I have endeavored to increase the level of communication between the local section and the various student member chapters. During this time I have worked to foster student participation in a variety of SCVACS activities such as National Chemistry Week, the National Chemistry Olympiad, the section’s “Teach the Teachers Workshops,” and the annual Northern California Undergraduate Research Symposium. As a Councilor I have served the section by participation at ACS National meetings and have served on the Women Chemists Committee. Although the past year was certainly a challenge, it did provide new opportunities to encourage members (including our student members!) to engage with the section using Zoom-linked activities such as online chemistry trivia games and allowed for greater participation in local section monthly meetings. In the coming year I hope to foster these and other innovations, blending them with more traditional activities, to offer a greater variety of avenues for members to interact with the ACS.
❏ Ihab Darwish
Biography: Ihab S. Darwish received his BS degree in chemistry from SUNY at Old Westbury and his MS and PhD degrees in Organic Chemistry from Princeton University. After a two-year postdoctoral appointment with Professor Marvin J. Miller, he joined Pathogenesis Corporation, a startup biotech company in Seattle focusing on chronic infectious diseases. Shortly thereafter, he joined Darwin Molecular, Inc., which was acquired by UK-based Chiroscience Group, plc., three years later. Approximately three years after that, Chiroscience merged with a second major British biotech company, Celltech, plc. In 2002, Dr. Darwish moved to the Bay Area and joined Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. where he has since worked as a medicinal chemist focusing on the development of novel, small molecule therapeutics for the treatment of viral diseases, metabolic disorders, immuno-oncology as well as cancer. Dr. Darwish joined the Santa Clara Valley Section upon moving to the Bay Area and accepted an appointment as an Alternate Councilor in August of 2005. In 2006 and again in 2009, he was elected to three-year terms as an Alternate Councilor and was appointed Treasurer of the Santa Clara Valley Section in June of 2009. In 2010, Dr. Darwish was elected as the Section Treasurer and has served in that capacity since then.
Candidate Statement: I joined the American Chemical Society early on in my career and have enjoyed the various benefits the Society offers. As Treasurer, I have continued to ensure our Local Section has the funds to carry out the Section’s stated goals and objectives. I will continue to support existing programs and explore new policies that would enhance our Local Section’s efficiency and help navigate our Section through various economic cycles. I am pleased with my record of service and appreciate your support.
❏ Jane Frommer
Biography: As a senior research staff member at the IBM Almaden Research labs, my atomic force laboratory was involved in a variety of collaborative academic and industrial programs in materials research including 3D nanoprinting, lithography, polymers, magnetics and biological nanostructures. My roles in the scientific community include: National Science Foundation panels and advisory boards in government and academia; guest professor on university faculties internationally; associate editor of the Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology; founder of STEM internship programs at IBM Research for California’s central valley community colleges and Brazilian universities; mentor of young scientists. I currently serve as a scientific advisor to Google.
BS Chemistry, Tufts University with biochemical research at MIT and Mass General Hospital. PhD Organometallic chemistry, Caltech. A Fellow of the ACS and the recipient of the 2017 ACS National Industrial Chemist Award. In 2021 I was honored with the Perkin Medal in recognition of lifetime achievement in applied chemistry.
Candidate Statement: The rejuvenation of the Silicon Valley ACS has been a driving interest in the past several years of my participation as Chair and Councilor. Newcomers to the leadership of our section bring an infusion of fresh energy and ideas. They have stepped up and recognize the value of in-person and local community. I see my role as supporting and inspiring their efforts to foster an organization relevant to the next generations. SVACS now reflects a broader cross-section of interests – a robust Younger Chemists Committee for early-career professionals and grad students, recognition of the networking needs of mid-career scientists, a Monterey Bay Area ACS subsection within reach of colleges and chemistry interests in Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties, and partnering with other local groups to broaden contacts as in the annual joint meeting with the Golden Gate Polymer Forum.
As Councilor, I will continue to foster the rejuvenation of the Silicon Valley ACS in its mission to serve a twenty-first century membership and community, and to use our success in transformation to serve as a model for the ACS at the national level.
My motivation: use science to do public good.
❏ Sally Peters
Biography: Sally Peters earned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry at Geneva College and received a master’s degree in library and information science from San Jose State University. She was an information specialist at Xerox PARC in Palo Alto, California, for more than 28 years. Earlier in her career, she conducted virus research at Stanford under the direction of Hubert Loring, Ph.D., the chemist who first crystallized the polio virus, which was later used by Jonas Salk to create the first effective vaccine for the disease. Sally has served as an ACS councilor for more than 20 years.
She has been a member of the ACS for more than 35 years and have been active in our section for more than 25 years. The ACS is the largest professional society in the world and an important aspect of its size is the variety of activities it offers for chemists interested in nontraditional careers, such as; computers, law, health and safety, regulatory affairs, and information, as well as, a wide variety of other areas. Our local section mirrors those facets and could be the ‘poster child’ for alternative careers!
Candidate Statement: The backbone of the national Society is the local section. The Silicon Valley has a healthy and active local section, and I will continue to work to keep it that way. I am a past chair and have been a counselor for over 20 years. I continue to serve the section at local and national levels. As a national counselor currently I am an elected member of the Council Policy Committee, which serves as the executive committee of the Council. I have also served on the Local Section Activities Committee, the Committee on Meetings and Expositions, and the Committee on Community Affairs. In the Santa Clara Valley/Silicon Valley section I was chair of the local Chemistry Olympiad Committee for 20 years and been on the Hospitality and Membership Committees. I am also a member of the Program Committee, which organizes and plans our monthly meetings.
I firmly believe that our elected officers should be active in the section, attend local meetings, and serve on local committees, as well as represent us at the national level.
Alternate Councilor
2 open positions: the two candidates with the most votes will fill the 3-year positions (2022-2024). VOTE for TWO (2).
❏ Megan Brophy
Biography: I am currently a full-time member of the Chemistry department faculty at De Anza College in Cupertino. I grew up on the Oregon Coast and received my BA in Chemistry at Reed College, where I worked on crystallography of bacterial manganese-responsive transcriptional regulators. My doctoral work at MIT focused on the manganese- and zinc-binding properties of S100 proteins, and I spent two years as a postdoc researcher at UC Berkeley. I have been teaching a variety of chemistry classes– including transfer-level classes for science majors, general education classes, and surveys of organic and biochemistry for health sciences majors– at De Anza College since the fall of 2017. I have been attending chapter events regularly since moving to Silicon Valley. I have particularly enjoyed the annual picnic and the home brew competition sponsored by the YCC.
Candidate Statement: By joining the Silicon Valley ACS as an alternate councilor, I hope to increase outreach to the local community college systems and offer support and encouragement to our chemistry students, instructors, and staff.
❏ Anais Nguyen
Biography: As a lead environmental engineer with IBM Global Real Estate based at Almaden Research Labs I have responsibility for approval of chemical used in research and manufactured materials through end of life product life. This includes review of potential environmental toxicity, persistence, and potential recoverability of raw material and final product. I provide an oversite role for environmental assessment of current and acquired properties in the IBM portfolio.
My additional roles include: management of IBM’s open space, maintaining certification of Corporate Lands with the Wildlife Habitat Council, membership on IBM’s Corporate Sustainability Zero Waste Committee, supporting IBM’s global efforts to implement UN Sustainability Goals, and membership on IBM’s Corporate Greenhouse Gas and Ozone Depleting Chemical Elimination Committee. Education: BS Environmental Health & Safety, California State University, San Diego
Candidate Statement: To approach Green Chemistry as a philosophy that applies to all areas of chemistry, not a single discipline of chemistry. To explore green chemistry which has already produced many tangible victories for the environment.
Change is inevitable. Growth is optional. I want to grow.
