Founding
The ACS Organic Chemistry Division (ORGN) was officially established in 1910 (chaired by Edward Curtis Franklin).
A detailed history of the start of the division was written by H. L. Fisher in 1951 and is available here:
Ind. Eng. Chem., 1951 , 43 (2), pp 289-294
Historical Events of the Division
1908
On December 31, 1908, the division was given a temporary organization status by ACS with the election for one year of a chairman, Richard S. Curtiss, and a vice chairman and secretary, Ralph H. McKee
1909
The Division’s Bylaws were approved
1910
The ACS Division of Organic Chemistry was officially chartered
1925
The First National Symposium on Organic Chemistry (NOS) was held in Rochester, N. Y.
1927
The Second National Symposium on Organic Chemistry was held in Columbus, Ohio
1936
The Division sponsors the creation of the Journal of Organic Chemistry
1959
The Rogers Adams Award is established and Sir Derek H. R. Barton is the first recipient
1973
The first Arthur C. Cope Award was made to Roald Hoffmann and Robert B. Woodward
1981
The Graduate Fellowship Program was initiated
1985
ORGN starts to distribute Organic Syntheses (with Vol. 62) free to its members
1986
The Arthur C. Cope Scholar Awards Program was initiated
1989
The Division partnered with Johnson & Johnson to start a travel awards program to support Outstanding Students and Faculty at Undergraduate Institutions to attend the ACS National and NOS meetings
1990
Received the ACS Award for Outstanding Performance by Divisions in recognition of its service to its members and its meritous contributions to the profession and the public understanding of chemistry.
1992
The Technical Achievement Award in Organic Chemistry (TAOC) Program was initiated
1994
With financial help from Bayer, the Gassman Award program was started and the first award was given to Nelson Leonard
1995
The Leete award was endowed and David N. Harpp is the first recipient
1999
Organic Letters debuts at the 36th NOS with Amos B. Smith, III as editor-in-chief
2007
The Gassman Award was endowed by Midwest Pharmaceuticals
2008
ORGN Holds Electronic Elections for the first time
2008
ORGN Celebrates its Centennial at the 236th National ACS Meeting with a Symposium Dedicated to the history of organic chemistry
2009
ORGN Awards Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF) for the first time
2009
ORGN forms a partnership with the Reaction Mechanisms Conference (RMC)
2009
43 members of the Division of Organic Chemistry, were selected as Inaugural ACS Fellows
2010
ORGN redesigns its website and adds a members only area
2010
ORGN holds its First Graduate Research Symposium (GRS) at Boston College
2013
ORGN partners with Jeff Seeman for second time to provide a second series of Eminent Organic Chemist Videos
2013
ORGN Creates the Undergraduate Award Program to recognize senior students
2016
ORGN Suspends the long running graduate fellowship program due to lack of financial support
2017
ORGN redesigns its website making it easier access the site on mobile devices and to utilize social media.
2018
ORGN hosts its first virtual symposium
2020
In response to COVID, ORGN releases all video content for free for the year
2020
ORGN Releases a new partner website: https://organicchemistrydata.org/
Past Presidents of ACS who were affiliated with the Division
1907
Marston T. Bogert – NOS Speaker 1929, 1931, 1935
1908
Marston T. Bogert – NOS Speaker 1929, 1931, 1935
1910
Wilder E. Bancroft – NOS Speaker 1933
1920
William A. Noyes
1923
Edward C. Franklin – Chair 1910 and 1929
1925
James F. Norris – NOS Speaker 1925, 1927, 1933
1926
James F. Norris – NOS Speaker 1925, 1927, 1933
1931
Moses Gomberg – NOS Speaker 1929,1941
1935
Roger Adams – ORGN Chair 1921
1938
Frank C. Whitmore – ORGN Secretary 1925-29, ORGN Chair 1930
1941
William Lloyd Evans – ORGN Chair 1928
1944
Thomas Midgley, Jr. – NOS Speaker 1931
1945
Carl S. Marvel – ORGN Chairman 1933
1947
W. Albert Noyes, Jr.
1952
Edgar C. Britton – NOS Speaker 1933
1954
Harry L. Fisher – NOS Speaker 1925
1957
Roger J. Williams – NOS Speaker 1941
1959
John C. Bailar, Jr. – NOS Speaker 1955
1961
Arthur C. Cope – ORGN Secretary 1940-44, ORGN Chair 1947
1962
Karl A. Folkers – NOS Speaker 1941, 1949
1965
Charles C. Price – NOS Speaker 1947, 1957
1971
Melvin Calvin – NOS Speaker 1955
1972
Max Tishler – NOS Speaker 1953
1990
Paul G. Gassman – ORGN Councilor 1983-88, ORGN Chair 1981
1992
Ernest L. Eliel – ORGN Chair 1974
1996
Ronald Breslow – NOS Speaker 1961, 1969, 1979, 1987, 2003 and Gassman Awardee in 2006
1997
Paul S. Anderson
1999
Edel Wasserman – ORGN Councilor 1983-88
2004
Chuck Casey – NOS Speaker 1985 and Cope Scholar in 1988
2005
William F. Carroll, Jr. – ORGN Member
2016
Donna J. Nelson – ORGN Member
Chairs of the Division
1910
Edward C. Franklin
1911
George B. Frankforter
1912-13
Treat B. Johnson
1914-15
F.F. Allen
1916
C. G. Derick
1917
J. R. Bailey
1918
William J. Hale
1919
L. W. Jones
1920
E. Emmett Reid
1921
Roger Adams
1922
Hans T. Clarke
1923
Frank C. Whitmore
1924
R. R. Renshaw
1925
Julius A. Nieuwland
1926
Marston T. Bogert
1927
Frank B. Dains
1928
William Lloyd Evans
1929
Edward C. Franklin
1930
Frank C. Whitmore
1931
James B. Conant
1932
Homer Adkins
1933
Carl S. Marvel
1934
Claude S. Hudson
1935
Arthur J. Hill
1936
Henry Gilman
1937
L. Charles Raiford
1938
Lyndon F. Small
1939
Werner E. Bachmann
1940
Cliff S. Hamilton
1941
Nathan L. Drake
1942
Lee I. Smith
1943
Louis F. Fieser
1944
Ralph L. Shriner
1945-46
Samuel M. McElvain
1947
Arthur C. Cope
1948
Paul D. Bartlett
1949
William G. Young
1950
Ralph W. Bost
1951
William S. Johnson
1952
Robert C. Elderfield
1953
Walter N. Lauer
1954
Max Tishler
1955
A. Harold Blatt
1956
Nelson J. Leonard
1957
John D. Roberts
1958
Melvin S. Newman
1959
Karl A. Folkers
1960
John C. Sheehan
1961
William E. Parham
1962
Stanley J. Cristol
1963
William G. Dauben
1964
Delos F. De Tar
1965
Theodore L. Cairns
1966
Herbert O. House
1967
Gilbert J. Stork
1968
Harry H. Wasserman
1969
Jerrold Meinwald
1970
Frederick G. Bordwell
1971
Ronald Breslow
1972
Jerome A. Berson
1973
Andrew Streitwieser, Jr.
1974
Ernest L. Eliel
1975
Jeremiah P. Freeman
1976
Howard E. Simmons, Jr.
1977
E. C. Taylor
1978
Harold Hart
1979
Andrew Kende
1980
Robert Ireland
1981
Paul Gassman
1982
Al Meyers
1983
J. C. Martin
1984
Peter Beak
1985
Clayton Heathcock
1986
Albert Padwa
1987
Carl R. Johnson
1988
Martin Semmelhack
1989
Patrick Confalone
1990
Victor Snieckus
1991
Joseph Gajewski
1992
James Marshall
1993
Michael Doyle
1994
Frank Davis
1995
William Roush
1996
Amos Smith
1997
Cynthia Maryanoff
1998
Dale Poulter
1999
Ross Johnson
2000
Dennis Curran
2001
Robert Boeckman
2002
William Nugent
2003
Edwin Vedejs
2004
William Greenlee
2005
Huw Davies
2006
Kathy Parker
2007
Barry Snider
2008
Robert Volkmann
2009
Lisa McElwee-White
2010
P. Andrew Evans
2011
Gary Molander
2012
Robert Larsen
2013
Lawrence T. Scott
2014
Christopher J. Welch
2015
Donna M. Huryn
2016
Paige E. Mahaney
2017
Mary K. Boyd
2018
Katherine L. Lee
2019
Jeffrey Aubé
2020
Lisa Marcaurelle
2021
Annaliese Franz
2022
Lamont Terrell
2023
Katherine N. Maloney
Secretary-Treasurers of the Division
1909 – 10
R. H. McKee*
1911 – 13
William J. Hale*
1914 – 15
C. G. Derick*
1916 – 19
Harry L. Fisher*
1920
Roger Adams*
1921
H. T. Clarke*
1922
Frank C. Whitmore*
1923
R. R. Renshaw*
1924
J. A. Nieuwland*
1925 – 29
Frank C. Whitmore*
1930 – 34
Julian Hill*
1935 – 39
Ralph Shriner*
1940 – 44
Arthur C. Cope*
1945 – 49
Ralph Bost*
1950 – 54
Nelson J. Leonard*
1954 – 59
William Parham*
1960 – 64
Herbert O. House*
1965 – 69
Norman A. LeBel*
1970 – 73
Jeremiah Freeman*
1974 – 77
E. M. Burgess*
1978 – 81
Peter Beak*
1981 – 85
Walter Trahanovsky*
1986 – 89
Joseph Gajewski*
1990 – 93
William Roush
1994 – 96
Dennis Liotta
1997 – 01
Alan Marchand
2002 – 05
James Rigby
2006 – 09
Gary Molander
2010 – 13
Marisa Kozlowski
2014 – 16
Barry Snider
* Also served concurrently as Program Chair
Beginning in 2017 the position of Secretary-Treasurer was separated into two positions
Secretaries of the Division
2017 – 23
Scott Sieburth
Treasurers of the Division
2017
Barry Snider
2018 – 22
Robert E. Maleczka, Jr.
2023 – 2027
Ashis Saha
Program Chairs of the Division
1988 – 91
Frank Davis
1992 – 95
Dan Pasto
1996 – 99
Stan Hall
2000 – 03
Lisa McElwee-White
2004 – 06
Rob Larsen
2007 – 08
William Greenlee
2009 – 10
Scott Sieburth
2011 – 12
Ahmed Abdel-Magid
2013
Bob Gawley
2013 – 14
Ahmed Abdel-Magid
2015 – 16
Matt McIntosh
2017 – 18
Richard Broene
2019 – 22
Steven Silverman
2023 – 24
Emily Mclaughlin
Membership of the Division
Year
Members
1921
306
1936
397
1937
430
1938
444
1939
441
1940
555
1941
565
1942
673
1943
679
1944
756
1945
715
1946
787
1947
1,002
1948
1,014
1998
15,061
1999
15,749
2000
18,092
2001
18,815
2002
19,231
2003
19,103
2004
18,732
2005
18,540
2006
18,306
2007
17,731
2008
17,090
2009
16,127
Year
Members
2010
16,081
2011
15,681
2012
14,883
2013
13,697
2014
12,318
2015
11,649
2016
11,244
2017
10,624
2018
10,370
2019
10,598
2020
9,837
2021
8,885
Division Officers
A historical list of all the Division’s Officers since 1925 is now available as a MS Excel File . The current list of officers including their contact information is available on the Executive Committee Page .
ORGN Archives Available at the Chemical Heritage Foundation
The Division of Organic Chemistry (ORGN) archives have been transferred to the Science History Institute (formally called the Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF)). These archives currently cover the period from 1935 until 1983. Highlights include scrap books containing forms, reports, memos and other divisional documents kept by six secretary-treasurers covering a 30 year period from 1934 to 1964: Ralph L. Shriner (1934-39), Arthur C. Cope (1939-1944), Ralph W. Bost (1944-1949), Nelson J. Leonard (1950-1954), William E. Parham (1954-1959) and Herbert O. House (1959-1964). The archives also contain records of the National Organic Symposium from 1937-1983 and many other documents related to the functioning of the division. A finding aid provides more details. Please contact the secretary-treasurer, if you have records or papers that you would like to transfer to the archives so they will be accessible to those interested in the activities of ORGN.