Younger Chemists Committee celebrates 50 years

The late 1960s and early 1970s was an increasingly tumultuous time in the US, both socially and professionally, with issues like the environment, women’s rights, Watergate, and the Vietnam War dominating society’s discourse—a discourse that saw a heightened difference of opinion between older and younger generations. Graduate student Gordon Nelson voiced concerns that he and fellow student members of the American Chemical Society had about ACS national meetings. “[Their main concern was] that there was a disconnect between what the society was doing and how they could better serve younger chemists,” says Katherine Johnson, chair of the ACS Younger Chemists Committee. The concerns prompted a report to the ACS Board Committee on Education and Students, resulting in the appointment of a Younger Chemists Task Force. The Younger Chemists Committee (YCC) was formed in 1974. Nelson went on to become ACS president in 1987. Johnson explains that ongoing discussions around how