Careers, Entrepreneurship, and Diversity: Challenges and Opportunities in the Global Chemistry Enterprise

H. N. Cheng (Ph.D., University of Illinois) is currently a research chemist at Southern Regional Research Center of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in New Orleans, where he works on projects involving improved utilization of commodity agricultural materials, green chemistry, and polymer reactions. Prior to 2009 he was with Hercules Incorporated where he was involved (at various times) with new product development, team and project leadership, new businessevaluation, pioneering research, and supervision of analytical research. Over the years, his research interests have included NMR spectroscopy, polymer characterization, biocatalysis and enzymatic reactions, functional foods, pulp and paper technology, and green polymer chemistry.Sadiq Shah (Ph.D., Washington University, St. Louis) is the Vice Provost for Research at the University of Texas - Pan American with responsibilities for managing, directing, and growing the research, scholarship, and creative activities as well as technology transfer efforts on campus. Earlier Dr. Shah served successively as Associate Vice President for Research at California State University Channel Islands, Associate Vice President for Research and Economic Development at Western KentuckyUniversity, Director of the Western Illinois Entrepreneurship Center and the Office of Technology Transfer at Western Illinois University, Manager, Product & Technology Development for Health Care markets at STERIS, BMS and Merck, and senior research chemist at Petrolite Corporation.Marinda Li Wu (Ph.D., University of Illinois) is the 2013 President of the American Chemical Society (ACS). She has over thirty years of industrial experience at Dow Chemical R&D and Dow Plastics Marketing and additional entrepreneurial experience with various small chemical companies and startups including Science is Fun! which she founded to engage young students in science and enhance public awareness. She has served in many leadership roles at local and national ACS levels. She waselected to the ACS Board of Directors in 2006 and served as Director-at-Large until 2011. In 2011, she was elected to the ACS Presidential succession, where she was invited to give plenary lectures worldwide and was made an honorary member of both the Romanian Chemical Society and the Polish ChemicalSociety.