As we move past one year of the pandemic, we are starting to see some glimmer that the end might be in sight. For most of us, that end can’t come soon enough. This has been a challenging year on many levels. That said, there have been many examples of people who have donated their time, energy and expertise to help others who are struggling. For example, AACT and ChemEd X made materials freely available for people who had to transition to remote instruction. Similarly, a Facebook group (Strategies for teaching chemistry online) was created to facilitate the sharing of resources and ideas. Members of our Division have been invaluable contributors to these and other resources. I hope that this spirit of collegiality and collaboration will be one of the good things that come out of these difficult times and continue once we move into the “new normal”, whatever that looks like. I encourage all of our members to share the expertise of our Division with anyone who needs and/or requests it.
I would like to congratulate the newly elected DivCHED officers: Vicente Talanquer (Chair-Elect), Rick Moog (Treasurer), Roxie Allen (re-elected as Councilor), Clarissa Sorensen-Unruh (Councilor), Steven Fleming (Alternate Councilor) and Marty Perry (Alternate Councilor). Special thanks to all candidates to agreed to run. The strength of our Division rests on the volunteer efforts of our members. We are always looking to increase the diversity of our officers; however, we understand that can be overwhelming to step right into an officer position. We encourage members who would like to get more involved to volunteer to serve on a standing committee. This can be done using the online form here.
As always, if there is anything that I (or we as a Division) can do to improve your experience in the Division, please let me know (daniel.king@drexel.edu). I’m disappointed that once again we won’t get a chance to see each other in person. Hopefully, conditions will continue to improve and some of us will have a chance to travel to Fall ACS in Atlanta later this year.