Message from the President:
President’s Overview and Welcome
The American Institute of Chemists (AIC) was founded in 1923 to improve the public perception of the profession. In 1926, the Institute was incorporated in the State of New York. The current AIC office is now located at the Chemical Heritage Foundation in Philadelphia, PA.
The Institute is a national, nonprofit organization, which continues to
pursue its original purpose with particular emphasis on promoting the relevance
of the chemical profession and its practitioners to society at large. It
engages in professional enhancement through its prestigious Fellow membership
category, awards, meetings, and publications. A major service to the profession
is the establishment of the credentialing system administered by the National
Certification Commission in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering.
The objectives of The Institute, as noted in its bylaws, are to advance
the chemical professions in the United States, to promote and protect the
public welfare by establishing and enforcing high professional standards
of practice for these professions, plus to promote the professional, social,
and economic interests of its members for the benefit of society at large.
In 1982, The American Institute of Chemists Foundation (AICF) was established
to continue the Student Awards Program begun in 1935. The AICF also has
worked to assist these deserving college seniors with their graduate education.
In 1994, the AICF Board of Trustees voted to extend this charge to also
honor outstanding masters, doctoral, and post-doctoral students in chemistry,
biochemistry, and chemical engineering.
The American Institute of Chemists offers member services that are free
of charge. These include the following:
- The new and constantly improving AIC website
- The Chemist - an online publication (currently under construction).
- Members may apply for National Certification in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at a reduced rate.
- Book
review program; published in The Chemist
The new AIC website will report news and relevant events in the professional world of chemistry. We will include articles on pending/enacted legislation, relevant technical information, links to chemical resources of interest to the profession and organizations worldwide plus major award winning addresses and announcements.
In recent years, the AIC has overcome issues associated with an aging
professional membership, adversity in its financial/operational status,
and the transition into the digital, modem web-based arena. The AIC is
maintaining its focus on its core objectives noted while sustaining its
ethical and moral strengths enunciated for nearly nine decades.
As the AIC continues to move ahead, we seek to provide high value for
a new generation of Members and Fellows. New Members and Fellows bring
with them the strength and vitality necessary to maintain the AiC's core
objectives plus to provide the quality services that our membership and
the chemistry profession have long relied.
The membership's commitment to the AIC has proven to be genuine. Over
the recent past without the membership stepping forward and displaying
tremendous support, the AIC would not be alive today. An expression of
thanks is given to the dedicated/generous members who make up this organization.
The AIC at 89 years young continues to be relevant and to provide programs
found nowhere else. It is critical that this legacy be maintained.
The AIC urges all Members and Fellows to ask themselves, "What can
I do for the AIC, today?" Please be as generous as you can with
a tax-deductible contribution.
| Sincerely yours, |
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| David M. Manuta, Ph.D., FAIC |
| President, American Institute of Chemists |