Wilmington, Del., chemist re-elected district director of world’s largest scientific society
Pat N. Confalone, Ph.D., vice president of DuPont’s global R&D, crop protection, in Wilmington, Del., has been re-elected as director of District III of the Board of Directors of the American Chemical Society (ACS) , the world’s largest scientific society. District III includes Delaware, New Jersey, the District of Columbia and parts of Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Confalone has been on the Board since 2009 and will continue through 2014.
Confalone emphasizes the importance of research and development as well as American competitiveness and innovation. He is an advocate for all aspects of science and math education, from K–12 through undergraduate and graduate school.
“Although the new millennium began as the second ‘American Century,’ I am very concerned that it will not end that way,” Confalone says. “The science gap of the Sputnik era has been replaced by a ‘quiet crisis’ pointing to a future noncompetitive workforce. Last year I worked on the ACS presidential task force on innovation in the chemical enterprise. Our report identified many actionable programs ACS should undertake to enable innovation, including developing and training entrepreneurs as a key strategy to creating science and technology based jobs.”
An ACS member since 1970, Confalone has served on a variety of ACS committees and task forces that include finance, public affairs, public relations, innovation and the ACS Green Chemistry Institute (GCI). He also serves on the governing board for the Council for Chemical Research, the board of directors of the Delaware Technology Park, and is a member of the U. S. national committee of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. In addition, he is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
He received a B.S. in 1967 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, followed by an M.S. in 1968 and a Ph.D. in 1970 from Harvard University.
Confalone resides in Wilmington with his wife, Dianne.
The American Chemical Society is a non-profit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 163,000 members, ACS is the world’s largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.