Midwest Award

What is the Midwest Award?

The St Louis Section established the ACS Midwest Award in 1944 to publicly recognize outstanding achievements in chemistry in the Midwest region. The award is conferred annually on a scientist who has made meritorious contributions to the advancement of pure or applied chemistry, chemical education, and the profession of chemistry. The award ceremony takes place during a banquet at the Midwest Regional ACS meeting in October, at which the awardee or the nominator usually organizes an Award Symposium with speakers in the awardee’s field of study.

To be eligible, a nominee’s cited work must have been performed while he or she was residing within the Midwest Region of the ACS (map). However, the nominee does not have to be an ACS member. Neither the nominee nor the nominator has to currently reside within the Midwest Region. Nominees can be from industry, academia, government or private practice. Past recipients of any national award administered by the American Chemical Society are ineligible.

Midwest Award Nominations

Nominations should consist of a nominating letter and two or more seconding letters; a curriculum vitae for the nominee; a brief biography for the nominee; and documented and objective information regarding the outstanding achievements of the nominee. If the nominee is an academician, a list of persons who have received advanced degrees under her or his direction should be provided. Activities that support the ACS in the Midwest Region constitute an added criterion. Please submit nominations electronically as a single pdf file to the email address of the Midwest Award coordinator. To be considered for the current year, nominations must be received on or before March 31st April 30th. (The nomination deadline has been extended this year to help people deal with, well, everything else, and not let this slide.

Midwest Award Ceremonies

The 2020 ACS Midwest Award will be presented at the 55th Midwest Regional Meeting of the ACS to be held at the University Plaza Hotel in Springfield, Missouri, over the period October 21-23, 2020. The meeting is hosted by the Ozarks Local Section of the ACS. Ceremonies feature a Midwest Award Symposium, a Midwest Award Lecture and the Midwest Awards Banquet usually scheduled on the Thursday of the meeting. The Award consists of a medallion and a cash honorarium; it is presented by the St. Louis Section Chair at the Midwest Awards Banquet. Conditions of this Award include that the recipient gives the Midwest Award Lecture and attends the Midwest Awards Banquet.