SAACS

The Student Affiliates of the American Chemical Society is responsible for chemistry-related programming outside of the classroom. This organization sponsors and organizes chemistry-related activities for the Lake Forest College student body. Students wishing to join this organization are encouraged to attend the SAACS meetings held monthly throughout the school year. Social events are also planned to bring the members of this organization together.

Our Mission

The object of this Chapter shall be to afford an opportunity for students interested in chemistry at Lake Forest College to become better acquainted, to secure the intellectual stimulation that arises from professional association, to secure experience in preparing and presenting technical material, to instill a professional pride in chemistry and to educate the Lake Forest College community and our members.

Service Projects

Many studies point to the under representation of minorities—African Americans, Native Americans, and Pacific Islanders—in the sciences.  The major goal of the Community Interaction - Student Affiliates (CISA) program is to give minority children the chance to succeed in science.  CISA provides grant monies to active SAACS chapters to help them mobilize chemistry undergraduates in improving minority children’s learning experiences in sciences.  From 2000-03, our chapter received CISA grants for sponsorship of the Measure of Our Success demonstration/hands-on activity for the 5th grade class at Carmen Elementary School in Waukegan, Illinois.

Since 1977, the Innovative Activities Grants (IAG) program has provided funds to many American Chemical Society (ACS) Student Affiliates chapters for various research and community-oriented projects. To qualify, a chapter must be active and match the grant provided by ACS with funds from its treasury or other sources.   Our chapter has been awarded with this grant twice in recent years: in 2003-04 for our Chemists Come Home program and again in 2002-03 to participate in a SNOOZEUM event with the Museum of Science and Industry. 

Seminars

Every year the chemistry department and SAACS sponsors several Friday afternoon seminars. These informal talks usually range from topics on Industrial Chemistry to issues in academia and, of course, are always accompanied by refreshments.  Recent seminars include: 

  • Metallocene-catalyzed Alkene Polymerization: Mechanistic Insights from Experiment with Computation by Dr. Clark Landis, University of Wisconsin, Madison 
  • Molecular Superconductors: Recent Advances with Large Discrete Anions by Dr. John Schlueter, Argonne National Laboratory 
  • Trends in Metallocene Catalyzed Polymerization by Dr. Terry Burkhardt, The ExxonMobil Chemical Company 
  • INSITE and Other Single-Site Polyolefin Catalyst Technology: From the Lab to Commercialization by Dr. Dan Vander Lende, The Dow Chemical Company 
  • Dynamic Asymmetric Transformation of Zirconaaziridines with an Optically Active CO2 Synthon. Synthesis of Amino Acid Esters by Dr. Jack R. Norton, Columbia University  

1997-2003 Chapter Highlights

  • Nuclear chemistry panel discussion
  • Chemistry speakers from academia and DEA, as well as the industry and and Ph.D. granting institutions
  • Career discussions to inform students about what they can do with a chemistry degree  
  • Flames, Fumes, Flashes and Colors Chemistry Demonstration Show
  • Study breaks during department "Help Sessions"
  • Annual chemistry department/SAACS/physics department fall picnic
  • Jelly Belly factory tour
  • Chicago Art Institute trip
  • Game nights

Chapter Contacts

Assistant Professor of Chemistry Dawn Wiser
Lecturer in Chemistry Elizabeth W. Fischer '72
Phone: 847-735-5090
Fax: 847-735-6194