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News & Notices

New IUPAC Officers Take Office


Leiv K. Sydnes, Professor of Chemistry at the University of Bergen, Norway, assumed the presidency of IUPAC - the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry - on 1 January 2004. Prof. Sydnes, who served as IUPAC Vice-President and President-elect during 2002-2003, carries out research in the area of organic synthesis, with particular emphasis on cyclopropane chemistry and photochemistry. He is active in a number of European scientific organizations and is well known for his work in science education and in enhancing the public appreciation of chemistry.

Also on 1 January, Bryan Henry, Professor of Chemistry at the University of Guelph, Canada, became Vice-President and President-elect, while David StClair Black, Professor of Chemistry at the University of New South Wales, Australia, assumed the position of Secretary General. Profs. Henry and Black were elected at the IUPAC General Assembly in Ottawa, Canada, in August 2003, and Dr. Christoph F. Buxtorf (Switzerland) was reelected to a second four-year term as Treasurer. Prof. Pieter S. Steyn (South Africa) is now Past President for 2004-2005.

2004-5 IUPAC Officers
President Leiv K. Sydnes (Norway)
Vice President Bryan Henry (Canada)
Secretary General David StClair Black (Australia)
Treasurer Christoph F. Buxtorf (Switzerland)
Past President Pieter S. Steyn (South Africa)


Leiv K. Sydnes of Norway becomes IUPAC President

The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) will begin 2004 under the leadership of a world-renowned scientist from Norway. Leiv K. Sydnes of Bergen, who served as IUPAC Vice President during 2002-3, will assume the role of IUPAC President for the 2004-5 Biennium.

Born in Haugesund, Norway, Prof. Sydnes finished high school in Stavanger, Norway, and subsequently attended the University of Oslo, Norway, obtaining his Ph.D. in 1978. Immediately following the completion of his doctorate, he worked as a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Western Ontario, Canada, until 1980. Sydnes was an Associate Professor and a Professor of organic chemistry at the University of Tromsø, Norway from 1980 until 1993. In 1993, he became as Professor of organic chemistry at the University of Bergen, Norway, where he is now also Vice Rector.

Professor Sydnes has been involved in academic research for almost 30 years and has published a large number of scientific papers in the field of synthetic organic chemistry. He has written textbooks in chemistry, made television programs shown on national television, and has had appointments as a visiting professor at Universities in Austria, Australia, Japan, and the USA. He has served as President of the Norwegian Chemical Society, and has been heavily involved in the Federation of European Chemical Societies (FECS) for almost 10 years. Leiv Sydnes has received a number of awards, including the FECS Medal for 2003.

Elected to the IUPAC Bureau in 1993, Sydnes has been a member on a number of committees. His election as IUPAC Vice President at the 2001 Council Meeting in Brisbane, Australia, exemplifies the importance of his input to IUPAC and IUPAC activities. He will undoubtedly continue to offer his in-depth and comprehensive knowledge and guidance to IUPAC during his term of President.

> Read the President's Column
Chem. Int. 2004, Jan , p. 2



Bryan Henry of Canada becomes IUPAC Vice President

Bryan Henry began his two-year term as IUPAC President-elect and Vice President on 1 January 2004. In 1963, Prof. Henry received his bachelor's degree from the University of British Columbia; he later earned his doctorate at Florida State University in the United States. Between 1969 and 1986, Prof. Henry was an Associate Professor, a Professor, and Department of Chemistry Head at the University of Manitoba. Currently, Bryan Henry is a Professor of Chemistry at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Guelph, where he held the position of Department Chair from 1988-1993.

Bryan Henry has served as Vice President and President of the Canadian Society for Chemistry (CSC), and as Chair and Vice Chair of the Chemical Institute of Canada (CIC). A member of Canadian Section of the Society of Chemical Industry since 1992, he has been both Chair and Vice Chair. He was also a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the Canadian Journal of Chemistry (1996-1998). Additionally, he was part of the Selection Committee for the Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame from1996-2000

Prof. Henry has been a Member of the Canadian National Committee for IUPAC since 1995, and served as Chair (1998-2003). He was the Scientific Program Chair of the 39th IUPAC Congress, which was held concurrently with the 42nd General Assembly in Ottawa.



David StC. Black Begins Term as IUPAC Secretary General

David StC. Black began his four-year term as IUPAC Secretary General on 1 January 2004. David Black, born in Wollongong, earned his bachelors and masters degrees at the University of Sydney. He was awarded an Overseas Scholarship by the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, and earned his doctorate at Cambridge. He completed his postdoctoral research at Columbia University, and then began work at Monash University. After nearly 20 years at Monash, he was appointed to the Chair of Organic Chemistry at University of New South Wales (UNSW) in 1983.

His research, described in almost 250 publications, has led to the synthesis of new types of organic molecules and the discovery of new synthetic methodologies, particularly in heterocyclic chemistry. He has also co-written a monograph (with J. M. Swan) entitled "Organometallics in Organic Synthesis". His current interest centers on new aspects of indole chemistry.

Prof. Black has engaged in many overseas opportunities. He spent periods of study leave at the ETH Zrich (1968-9), Wrzburg University (1974 - as an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow) and Cambridge University (1980). He has also held Visiting Professorships at the Science University of Tokyo (1988), the University of Auckland (1992), Gttingen University (1994), Innsbruck University (1999) and Kobe Pharmaceutical University (2000). He has given numerous invited lectures at international conferences and major universities.

Since 1993, he has been the Leader of the Joint Selection Team for Australian Development Scholarships for Indonesian postgraduate students. At UNSW he was Head of the School of Chemistry from 1987-1990, and acting Dean of the Faculty of Science from January to July 1987. He was appointed Associate Dean (Research) for the Faculty of Science and Technology in 2000, and re-appointed to that position in the Faculty of Science in July 2001.

David Black's honors include the Rennie Medal (1970), H. G. Smith Medal (1993), and the A. J. Birch Medal (2003) of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI). In 1990, he was both the Liversidge Lecturer of the Royal Society of New South Wales and the Royal Society of Chemistry Lecturer. He was President of RACI in 1998, and served as Chair of the National Committee for Chemistry from 1999-2003.

Prof. Black has been a committee member of the Division of Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry of IUPAC since 1994. He served as Division Vice President of the Division during 2002-3, and will now, as Secretary General, conduct the specified business of the Union and oversee the IUPAC Secretariat.


Christoph Buxtorf Begins Second Term as IUPAC Treasurer

Christoph Buxtorf of Basel began his second four-year term as IUPAC Treasurer on 1 January 2004. A native of Basel, Dr. Buxtorf received a degree in chemistry from the Engineering School in Burgdorf, and his doctorate from the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. He completed his post doctoral fellowship at McGill University, Montreal, Canada, and pursued further education in Finance Management and Corporate Strategy in Europe and at Harvard.

Dr. Buxtorf retired in 2000 after 34 years with Novartis Crop Protection (now Syngenta) as head of Manufacturing and Technology. He has held technical and managerial responsibilities in manufacturing and chemical development in both Switzerland and the USA. He was a member of the Executive Committee of Novartis Crop Protection, and was responsible for the worldwide operations in manufacturing and technical development of the Novartis Technology Advisory Board and Safety and Environmental Council.

Dr. Buxtorf is a member of the Swiss Chemical Society (SCS) and the Swiss Society of Chemical Industries. He was actively engaged in the SCS division of Industrial Chemistry 12 years. He was chairman of the manufacturing section of the European Crop Protection Association, with extended responsibilities for worldwide industry standards.

Christoph Buxtorf has served as Treasurer and as a member of the Executive and Finance Committees of IUPAC since 1999. He was Chair of the ad hoc special working group on national subscriptions and related finance matters, was a member of the Conference Policy Development Committee, and a member of the ad hoc working group on industrial relations.

 

 


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