Leadership

The Division is indebted to the members who have agreed to further its interests by serving as officers or committee members.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Jen Heemstra

CHAIR
(2023-2025)

Washington University in St. Louis

  • The Chair is responsible for the following:

    • Preside at meetings of the Executive Committee and carry into effect the decisions and recommendations of that Committee.

    • Preside at meetings of the Division to conduct governance business to appoint, with the approval of the Executive Committee, all committee chairs and others serving on committees.

    • Carry out the duties required by DBC bylaws and the ACS Governing Documents.

    • Organize the Division Awards banquet/mixer.

    • Nominate Division members for society awards, as appropriate (in consultation with the Immediate Past Chair).

    • Initiate or renegotiate all awards agreements with partner organizations or journals (in consultation with the Treasurer).

    • Present the Division’s annual report to the Division at its annual meeting.

Jay Schneekloth

CHAIR-ELECT
(2024-2026)

National Cancer Institute

  • The Chair-Elect is responsible for the following:

    • Assist the Chair with the direction and management of the Division.

    • In the absence of the Chair, the duties of the office devolve upon the Chair-Elect.

    • The Chair-Elect will co-chair the Communications Committee.

IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIR
(2022-2024)

David Giedroc

Indiana University

  • The Immediate Past Chair is responsible for the following:

    • Enhance the continuity of division leadership by assisting and advising the Chair during the transition and

    • Fulfill other responsibilities assigned by the Chair, including but not limited to, service on one or more divisional award selection committees.

    • Serve as Chair of the Awards Committee.

Christian Whitman

SECRETARY
(2023-2025)

University of Texas at Austin

  • The Secretary is responsible for the following:

    • Keep a record of the minutes of the meetings of the division to conduct governance business and of the Executive Committee.

    • Maintain a list of the members and affiliates.

    • Compile the Division’s annual report for the Chair.

    • Preside over meetings in the absence of both the Chair and Chair-Elect.

    • The Secretary is a member of the Communications Committee and will assist in the implementation of publicity activities of that committee.

Barbara Golden

TREASURER
(2024-2026)

Purdue University

  • The Treasurer is responsible for the following:

    • Oversee the funds of the Division.

    • Keep an accurate record of all receipts and disbursements.

    • Receive dues and make disbursements which have been approved by the Executive Committee.

    • Render an account of all transactions and of the financial condition of the Division to the Executive Committee.

    • Submit reports as are required by the ACS Governing Documents.

PROGRAM COMMITTEE

Kate Carroll

2024 PROGRAM CHAIR
(2022-2025)

The Scripps Research Institute

  • The Program Committee has four members, each serving a four-year staggered term, with one new member elected annually. Members of the Program Committee consist of the Program Vice Chair-Elect, Program Vice Chair, Program Chair, and Immediate Past Program Chair, in order of succession.

    The Program Committee is responsible for the selection of technical or scientific papers to be presented at meetings of the Division. The current Program Chair will serve as Chair of the Program Committee and liaison to the officers of the Division. The Program Chair (with input from the committee and division) sets the program for the spring and fall national meetings.

Jimmy Hougland

PROGRAM VICE-CHAIR/
2025 CHAIR (2023-2026)

Syracuse University

  • The Program Committee has four members, each serving a four-year staggered term, with one new member elected annually. Members of the Program Committee consist of the Program Vice Chair-Elect, Program Vice Chair, Program Chair, and Immediate Past Program Chair, in order of succession.

    The Program Committee is responsible for the selection of technical or scientific papers to be presented at meetings of the Division.

PAST PROGRAM CHAIR/
2023 CHAIR (2021-2024)

Phoebe Glazer

University of Kentucky

  • The Program Committee has four members, each serving a four-year staggered term, with one new member elected annually. Members of the Program Committee consist of the Program Vice Chair-Elect, Program Vice Chair, Program Chair, and Immediate Past Program Chair, in order of succession.

    The Program Committee is responsible for the selection of technical or scientific papers to be presented at meetings of the Division.

PROGRAM VICE CHAIR-ELECT/ 2026 CHAIR (2024-2027)

Ohio State University

Tom Magliery

  • The Program Committee has four members, each serving a four-year staggered term, with one new member elected annually. Members of the Program Committee consist of the Program Vice Chair-Elect, Program Vice Chair, Program Chair, and Immediate Past Program Chair, in order of succession.

    The Program Committee is responsible for the selection of technical or scientific papers to be presented at meetings of the Division.

    The Program Vice Chair-Elect will also serve as a member of the Communications Committee.

NOMINATION COMMITTEE

Michelle Chang

COUNCILOR
(2023-2025)

University of California, Berkeley

2025 NOMINATION CHAIR
(2023-2025)

Mark Hedglin

Pennsylvania State University

  • The Nomination Committee shall have three members, each serving a three-year staggered term, with one new member elected annually.

    The member serving their third year on the Nomination Committee will serve as the Chair of the Nomination Committee.

    The nomination committee identifies candidates for open positions and asks them to stand for election.

2026 NOMINATION CHAIR
(2024-2026)

Sierra Williams

Claremont College

  • The Nomination Committee shall have three members, each serving a three-year staggered term, with one new member elected annually.

    The member serving their third year on the Nomination Committee will serve as the Chair of the Nomination Committee.

    The nomination committee identifies candidates for open positions and asks them to stand for election.

COUNCILORS

  • The Division’s Councilor(s) attend meetings of the Council of the Society, represent the Division at these meetings, and reports back to the Division.

Emily Derbyshire

COUNCILOR
(2023-2025)

Duke University

  • The Division’s Councilor(s) attend meetings of the Council of the Society, represent the Division at these meetings, and reports back to the Division.

Amanda Hargrove

COUNCILOR
(2024-2026)

Duke University

  • The Division’s Councilor(s) attend meetings of the Council of the Society, represent the Division at these meetings, and reports back to the Division.

Igor Dikiy

COUNCILOR
(2024-2026)

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

  • The Division’s Councilor(s) attend meetings of the Council of the Society, represent the Division at these meetings, and reports back to the Division.

ALTERNATE COUNCILORS

Catherine Eichhorn

ALTERNATE COUNCILOR
(2023-2025)

University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Donita Brady

ALTERNATE COUNCILOR
(2024-2026)

University of Pennsylvania

Aaron Smith

ALTERNATE COUNCILOR
(2024-2026)

University of Maryland, Baltimore County

  • If designated to serve in place of the Councilor(s), the Division’s Alternate Councilor(s) attend meetings of the Council of the Society, represent the Division at these meetings, and report back to the Division.

Amy Weeks

ALTERNATE COUNCILOR
(2023-2025)

University of Wisconsin-Madison

  • If designated to serve in place of the Councilor(s), the Division’s Alternate Councilor(s) attend meetings of the Council of the Society, represent the Division at these meetings, and report back to the Division.

  • If designated to serve in place of the Councilor(s), the Division’s Alternate Councilor(s) attend meetings of the Council of the Society, represent the Division at these meetings, and report back to the Division.

  • If designated to serve in place of the Councilor(s), the Division’s Alternate Councilor(s) attend meetings of the Council of the Society, represent the Division at these meetings, and report back to the Division.

ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Amie Boal

ADVISORY COMMITTEE
MEMBER (2022-2024)

Penn State University

  • The Advisory Committee is comprised of Society and Division members with experience in the field of biological chemistry whose broad knowledge of the Division can be of benefit to the deliberations of the officers and the Executive Committee.

    Responsibilities of the Advisory Committee are as follows:

    • Enhance the continuity of division leadership by assisting and advising the Chair.

    • Fulfill other responsibilities assigned by the Chair.

    • Serve as members of the Awards Committee.

Loren Dean Williams

ADVISORY COMMITTEE
MEMBER (2022-2024)

Georgia Tech University

  • The Advisory Committee is comprised of Society and Division members with experience in the field of biological chemistry whose broad knowledge of the Division can be of benefit to the deliberations of the officers and the Executive Committee.

    Responsibilities of the Advisory Committee are as follows:

    • Enhance the continuity of division leadership by assisting and advising the Chair.

    • Fulfill other responsibilities assigned by the Chair.

    • Serve as members of the Awards Committee.

Cynthia Burrows

ADVISORY COMMITTEE
MEMBER (2023-2025)

University of Utah

  • The Advisory Committee is comprised of Society and Division members with experience in the field of biological chemistry whose broad knowledge of the Division can be of benefit to the deliberations of the officers and the Executive Committee.

    Responsibilities of the Advisory Committee are as follows:

    • Enhance the continuity of division leadership by assisting and advising the Chair.

    • Fulfill other responsibilities assigned by the Chair.

    • Serve as members of the Awards Committee.

Deborah Rothman

ADVISORY COMMITTEE
MEMBER (2023-2025)

Merck

  • The Advisory Committee is comprised of Society and Division members with experience in the field of biological chemistry whose broad knowledge of the Division can be of benefit to the deliberations of the officers and the Executive Committee.

    Responsibilities of the Advisory Committee are as follows:

    • Enhance the continuity of division leadership by assisting and advising the Chair.

    • Fulfill other responsibilities assigned by the Chair.

    • Serve as members of the Awards Committee.

MPPG REPRESENTATIVE

Ann Valentine

MPPG REPRESENTATIVE
(2024-2026)

Temple University

Jade McDaniel

WEBSITE
MANAGER

Vanderbilt University

Regina Stevens-Truss

AWARDS COMMITTEE,
MEMBER AT LARGE

Kalamazoo College

  • The Multidisciplinary Program Planning Group (MPPG) identifies and selects national meeting themes to promote collaborative, multidisciplinary, Society-wide programming at ACS National Meetings.

    This multidisciplinary programming reflects the nature of the modern scientific enterprise, breaks down barriers to collaboration, and provides opportunities for outreach to nascent and existing communities of scientists who are practicing chemistry.

COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE

Xiaoyu Shi

COMMUNICATIONS
COMMITTEE CO-CHAIR

University of California, Irvine

  • The Communications Co-Chair works with the Division’s Chair-Elect to carry out the following responsibilities:

    • Provide overall leadership in developing and implementing the strategic vision for the Communications Committee.

    • Integrate various publicity tools to highlight and promote engagement of early-career members of the DBC and those who might become members of the division.

    • Develop new and innovative ways to promote the value of DBC membership to new and existing members at all career stages.

  • The Website Manager of the Division of Biological Chemistry’s website has the following responsibilities:

    • Maintain and improve the website as needed and as directed by members of the Executive Committee and Communications Committee.

    • Draft their own content as needed and envision formatting changes that can increase the utility of and engagement with the website.

Eric Kohn

SOCIAL MEDIA
ORGANIZER

University of Wisconsin-Madison

  • The Social Media Organizer of the Division of Biological Chemistry has the following responsibilities:

    • Enhance the depth and breadth of the DBC’s presence on social media and work closely with webmaster to synergize content across platforms.

    • Development of new (as appropriate) and maintenance of existing social media accounts (Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.)

    • Develop content (video, infographics, text) and post content provided by others in the division, including publicity of DBC programming at the national and regional meetings, while also spotlighting members to highlight their stories and accomplishments.

AWARDS COMMITTEE (AT LARGE)

Andrea Guedez Pena

AWARDS COMMITTEE,
MEMBER AT LARGE

UT Southwestern

  • The Awards Committee is chaired by the Immediate Past Chair of the division and includes all four current members of the Advisory Committee, as well as up to four DBC members at large.  Responsibilities of the awards committee include:

    • Administer divisional awards with funding provided by corporate partners or generously endowed by members of the DBC community.

    • Identify more senior scientists with considerable career ACS service experience who would be competitive for recognition as ACS Fellows.

    • Develop a mechanism to ensure that mid-career and senior scientists from historically underrepresented groups in chemistry to become candidates for DBC awards.

    • Develop plans to initiate other divisional awards programs, particularly targeting those earlier career members of our division who will become the next generation of the academic/industrial leaders in biochemistry and chemical biology.

    • Explore the possibility of “upgrading” one of more of our divisional awards to National Award status to increase the number of national awards for which our members are eligible.

  • The Awards Committee is chaired by the Immediate Past Chair of the division and includes all four current members of the Advisory Committee, as well as up to four DBC members at large.  Responsibilities of the awards committee include:

    • Administer divisional awards with funding provided by corporate partners or generously endowed by members of the DBC community.

    • Identify more senior scientists with considerable career ACS service experience who would be competitive for recognition as ACS Fellows.

    • Develop a mechanism to ensure that mid-career and senior scientists from historically underrepresented groups in chemistry to become candidates for DBC awards.

    • Develop plans to initiate other divisional awards programs, particularly targeting those earlier career members of our division who will become the next generation of the academic/industrial leaders in biochemistry and chemical biology.

    • Explore the possibility of “upgrading” one of more of our divisional awards to National Award status to increase the number of national awards for which our members are eligible.

Interested in joining us?

Our leadership team and officers are elected by the Division’s members through annual elections held in the fall. The length of each term varies depending on the position. If you would like more information about specific roles or are interested in serving on the leadership team, please reach out to a member of the Nominations Committee.