Scholarship Program - Société de Chimie Industrielle

Société first began to support the American Chemical Society (ACS) Scholars Program at the beginning of the 1998 academic year. The program's mission is to help academically gifted students from racial and ethnic groups that are underrepresented in the chemical sciences. When Société began its support, we provided financial assistance to three students annually. We now provide support to six students each year. According to the ACS, 80 ACS Scholars graduated with bachelor’s degrees in the chemical sciences in 2015. Of the more than 1,500 ACS Scholars who have earned an undergraduate degree since 1995, approximately half have entered advanced degree programs and another 200 Scholars are now enrolled in PhD programs. More than 220 Scholars have completed a PhD.

ACS Scholars for 2013-2014

ACS Scholars for 2014-2015

ACS Scholars for 2015-2016

ACS Scholars for 2016-2017

ACS Scholars for 2017-2018

ACS Scholars for 2018-2019

Société also supports three students each year in the Chemistry Summer Undergraduate Research Program at Columbia University. Participants conduct research under the supervision of a Columbia faculty mentor to foster a deeper knowledge of chemistry, to learn and hone research skills, and to get a taste of what a research career would be like. Most of the students are integrated into ongoing research projects allowing them to develop and experience a close working relationship with faculty and graduate students. Students submit two progress reports during the intensive 12 week course. At the conclusion of the program, students turn in a final report and present their research to faculty, fellow students, and administrators at a Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium.

Columbia program participant Eliza Cricco-Lizza says that, “The Société de Chimie Industrielle sponsored my research in the Lambert organic chemistry lab at Columbia University for Summer 2015. During these three months I was able to comfortably work full time to pursue a project that continued years of my own and my colleagues research. I was also encouraged in my scientific career by an invitation to a banquet where I was introduced to many influential thinkers and congratulated by name. I was further honored by a visit from a Société member during my presentation at the end of the summer. This fellowship enabled not only my research this summer, but also my long term pursuit of understanding and explaining the world through science. Thanks in part to the work this sponsorship enabled, I have been accepted into medical school and will continue the education and scientific contribution that Société has helped foster. Thank-you for your time, thoughtfulness, and generosity!”

Another beneficiary of the summer program, Michele Myong, says the scholarship allowed her to focus on research without the distraction of regular school year classes “which I really appreciated since I was eager to advance my lab project. It is a well-structured program; the timely progress reports helped me organize my research efforts into a coherent presentation at the end of the summer. I learned a lot from watching the other Société fellows' presentations and speaking with them about their experiences at the end of the program.”

Chemistry Summer Undergraduate Research Students at Columbia University 2012 -2018

Beginning in the summer of 2016, Société launched two new summer scholar programs with New York University’s Department of Chemistry and Columbia University’s Department of Chemical Engineering.

IIn honor of 2017 Palladium Medal Winner Seifi Ghasemi, Société has designated a student scholar to receive the Seifi Ghasemi,/Air Products Research Fellowship. The winner is Jacob Robinson, a chemical engineering student at Columbia University.

Societe de Chimie Industrielle Undergraduate Fellows at New York University 2016 - 2018

Summer Fellows at Columbia University Department of Engineering 2016-2018

James M. Weatherall, President and Marc Reisch, Chair of the Education Committee for Société de Chimie Industrielle, present the scholarship check to Irina Katz, Career Placement Officer, Department of Chemical Engineering and Earth & Environmental Engineering, Columbia University at the 2019 International Palladium Medal Dinner.
Photo By: Hechler Photographers

Mr. Reisch and Mr. Weatherall present the Columbia University scholarship check to Dr. Vesna Gasperov, Department of Chemistry, Columbia University at the
2019 International Palladium Medal Dinner.
Photo By: Hechler Photographers