Council for Chemical Research Probes Quality of Science Education.

Ten years ago Malcolm E. (Mac) Pruitt, then vice president for R&D for Dow Chemical, convened a meeting in Midland, Mich., to discuss ways to improve relations between academic and industrial chemistry. Representatives from about 60 prestigious chemistry and chemical engineering departments and almost 30 major corporations showed up. The gathering brought out the common concerns and interests of the two camps, as well as some of the strains and suspicions between them. The initial proposal for formation of a group to gather major research funds from industry and distribute them to academia received only lukewarm support and eventually died. But this 1979 meeting led to the formation of the Council for Chemical Research two years later. Earlier this month more than 300 chemists and chemical engineers from academia and industry met in Parsippany, N.J., for the ninth annual meeting since CCR's formation. The level of collegiality between the two groups was high, indicating the ...