As I’m writing this column for our summer newsletter, we are rapidly approaching our 75th annual meeting in Lombard, IL. The meeting committee and headquarters team have been working overtime to get everything in order, and to make it a fantastic celebration of our community. I would like to extend a personal pre-emptive thanks to everyone involved, from our Meeting Committee, headquarters team, session chairs, speakers and poster chairs who are all contributing to make our annual meeting one with something for everyone.

By:  Christopher Cahill | Department of Chemistry | The George Washington University

What a thrill to be asked to share a few thoughts on leadership with the ACA community. In some respects, ACA provided me with my first ‘official’ leadership opportunity when I was elected to Council as Vice President in 2014. I had been leading a research group for about 15 years at that point, yet that was a very different experience, for sure. I felt drawn to the opportunity- ACA had been my scientific home for years, and some committee work had whetted my appetite for deeper engagement. I also felt that the ACA was then at a bit of a critical crossroads, and that I could contribute to re-tooling some aspects of operations. I was not explicitly aware of this at the time, but it turns out a strength that I have is to recognize the interconnected nature of challenges and opportunities, and to recognize what is important to a diverse group of stakeholders. As my leadership journey has continued, now to include Chemistry Department Chair for the past six years, I find that recognizing and acknowledging what is important to people, and then advocating for that within institutional constructs is rewarding and provides a wonderful sense of purpose.