Newsletter/Reports

Background
The Industrial Sponsors Group of the Division of Polymer Chemistry consists of the members listed below. In the past each member contributed $1,000 per year to support polymer education and other polymer development activities. Thanks to the substantial efforts of H.N. Cheng, J. DiBattista, and K.O. Havelka the list was expanded to include small companies with less than 500 employees, which contribute $500. Cheng has also led the effort to provide each Sponsor with a reference book of detailed information on the Industrial Sponsors Group. Through the efforts of Lesia Linkous, in the POLY Division Office, an updated version of these books was printed and distributed to the Members and to the Coordinating Committee.

Industrial Sponsors Coordinating Committee (ISCC): This committee, which consists of members of the Industrial Sponsors Group (ISG) and the Division of Polymer Chemistry, coordinates the activities of the Industrial Sponsors Group. The ISCC will meet in Atlanta, GA at the Spring ACS Meeting on Monday, April 27th at 11 a.m. in the Omni at CNN Center, Pecan Room.

A special committee (which includes H.N. Cheng and A. Salamone) has been formed in order to update and expand the membership of the Industrial Sponsors during 2006. In the interim, the list of sponsors who have contributed since 2004 is given below.

The Twenty-sixth Annual Meeting of the Industrial Sponsors Group (ISG) was held at the fall, 2005 Washington, D.C. ACS Meeting in conjunction with a meeting of the ISG Coordinating Committee at which plans for expanding the ISG Membership and the ISG activities were discussed. At the Atlanta ACS Meeting the ISG is continuing support of the next symposium on "Excellence in Graduate Polymer Science Research". This POLY symposium is also an ACS Presidential Event, and is cosponsored by PROF and YCC.

Other major activities which are currently supported by the Industrial Sponsors Group, many in cooperation with PMSE via POLYED, include workshops at schools to help to introduce polymer education, the Undergraduate Summer Scholarship Program, the Curriculum Development Award, tutorials, and free short courses on polymer science at national and regional meetings. The competitive grants program initiated in 1991, "Improving the Public Perception of Polymers", has been completed; over $55,000 was administered through this program. In its stead the ISG is funding a new program of graduate-student travel grants to present papers on polymer science in POLY at national ACS meetings. This program is being administered through a committee of the POLY Member-at -Large, and awards commenced with the spring 2005 meeting in San Diego. There were three Travel Grant Awardees for the fall, 2005 meeting in Washington, D.C. The plan, at present, is to provide for up to four travel grants of $500 each. Our hallmark award, the "Industrial Polymer Scientist Award", is described below, as well as an additional project.