Welcome to the Pittsburgh Section of the American Chemical Society.

We are pleased to provide the April 2024 Issue of The Crucible. If you have something you would like included in future issues, please email Alysia Mandato at [email protected].

The Pittsburgh Section of the American Chemical Society needs volunteers to share the chemistry of batteries with the community during Earth Month! We are collaborating with the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy at their Earth Month celebration event: Saturday, April 20 from 12 -3 PM at McKinley Park in the Beltzhoover neighborhood.

All materials and training will be provided. Please contact Chemists Celebrate Earth Week coordinator, Alysia Mandato, at [email protected] if you are interested in volunteering!

The Pittsburgh Local Section of the American Chemical Society (ACS) is sponsoring an illustrated poem contest for students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

• Contest Deadline: Sunday, April 28, 2024, at 11:59 PM EST, https://forms.gle/PemLmiY87KbKQ8wt5 
• Prizes: $50 for 1st place winners in each of four grade categories: K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12
• Contact: Alysia Mandato, CCEW Coordinator, [email protected]

Winners of the Pittsburgh Local Section’s Illustrated Poem Contest will advance to the National Illustrated Poem Contest for a chance to be featured on the ACS website and to win prizes!

​​1. What is your work and ACS (if applicable) title?

Chair and Associate Professor of Chemistry, Seton Hill University
Associate Member of the ACS Committee on Public Relations and Communications; Chair of Pittsburgh Women Chemists Committee

2. How many years have you been in the ACS?

4 years

3. What is the biggest benefit of ACS Membership?

Opportunities for professional development and the chance to have an impact on western Pennsylvania’s scientific community.

4. What did you want to be when you were a child?

A doctor. I was 8 years old when my mother suffered a stroke and I remember talking to her doctor and asking him why he thought the medication he prescribed my mother would work, his response was, “It just does.” Perhaps it seemed the best response to give to a little girl, however it moved something in me. At that time, I had no idea who scientists were, but I made up my mind that I was going to grow up to know how certain things in our bodies work. Currently, I teach about chemical reactions in the body.

5. What made you fall in love with Chemistry?

I grasped that I could rely less on memorization and more on using logic to figure things out.

6. What is your favorite part of your career or job?

My favorite part of my job is mentoring. Mentoring is sometimes overlooked but it is a crucial part of the work we do as stakeholders in higher education.

7. Which chemist, past or present, would you like to meet and why?

I would have liked to have met St. Elmo Brady. He researched the acidity of carboxylic acids and was the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry in the United States. I believe his accomplishment is a lesson in resilience in a discipline where historically African Americans are underrepresented. I also admire the commitment he showed to teaching and mentoring.

​​1. What is your work and ACS (if applicable) title?

Professor, Pennsylvania Western University – California
Councilor for the Pittsburgh Local Section, Member of the LSAC (Local Section Activities Committee,) and Chair of LSAC Committee on Grants & Awards

2. How many years have you been in the ACS?

26 years

3. What is the biggest benefit of ACS Membership?

Connecting with other chemists locally and around the world

4. What did you want to be when you were a child?

When I was a child, I wanted to be a surgeon, but I found myself too squeamish!

5. What made you fall in love with Chemistry?

I think I fell in love with chemistry, when I realized that all the objects (and people) I interacted with in everyday life were made up of atoms from the elements on the periodic table.

6. What is your favorite part of your career or job?

My favorite part of my job is helping students learn chemistry when they don’t think they can at first.

7. Which chemist, past or present, would you like to meet and why?

If I could meet any chemist, past or present, I would like to meet Dr. Marie Maynard Daly. Dr. Daly was the first African-American woman to earn her Ph.D. in chemistry in 1947. While she passed away in 2003, I would have enjoyed hearing about her experiences, including struggles and successes as she was a pioneer overcoming societal barriers.