The annual Awards banquet and student poster symposium will be held on April 13, 2026 at th Toy F. Reid Employee Center in Kingsport.  The schedule for the event is below.  Please RSVP for the event by noon on Friday, April 10.  

Awardees include:
Distinguished Member – Dane Scott

Technician of the Year – Emilie Madgett

Outstanding Seniors:
Aleya Ann Ebner. King University
Ryland Dines.  Milligan University
Hannah Marsh. Tusculum University
Layne Bush. UVA Wise
Zachary Zuehlke. ETSU

Outstanding High School Teacher – Olivia Kuper, North Green High School

April 13, 2026
3:00 pm – 3:30 pm Registration and Poster Set Up
3:30 pm – 5:00 pm Poster Session
5:15 pm – 6:30 pm Dinner and Awards

Location: Toy F. Reid Employee Center, 400 S. Wilcox Drive, Kingsport, TN

Gluten free and vegetarian options will be available for dinner.  Menu TBA.  Please RSVP by Friday, April 10 at noon.  Cost for dinner is $15, payable by cash or check at the event.

RSVP link: 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf_wk1pgdH1Joyq66iZWKPLiI657IL1lvdINKKfNSHKjp85mg/viewform?usp=header

Hope to see you on April 13th!
TVHS Executive Committee

DUE TO UNFORTUNATE CIRCUMSTANCES THE EVENT ON MARCH 3 IS BEING RESCHEDULED. WE WILL POST NEW DATES AND TIMES WHEN THEY ARE AVAILABLE. WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE INCONVENIENCE.

The TVHS 2025 Distinguished Member, Scott Armentrout will present his talk (abstract below and flyer attached) on March 3 at 6:45 pm at the Toy F. Reid Employee Center (400 S. Wilcox Drive, Kingsport, TN, Conference Room 224).  Dinner will be served beginning at 6 pm.  There is no cost to attend the presentation only.  Dinner will be $10.  

Please RSVP at the link below by February 26.

CV Review and Mock Interviews with Eastman 

Beginning at 4 pm, representatives from Eastman will assist students in CV Review and Mock Interviews.  This is a great opportunity for students and you will eat dinner and attend Dr. Armentrout’s presentation for free.  Slots will be limited, so sign up now at the link below! 

When: March 3, 2026
Dinner at 6pm

Where: Toy F. Reid Employee Center (Building 310), Conference Room 225.

Cost: $10 for dinner (Students eat free!)

Please RSVP by February 26, 2026 at https://forms.gle/tJvEWMGhh74hD5876

TVHS 2025 Distinguished Member Presentation

The Performance Mosaic: Bringing the Right Pieces Together for the Bigger Picture

Scott Armentrout, Ph.D.

Abstract
High-performing organizations are built on the alignment of people, purpose, and opportunity. Yet in both academic and industrial settings, leaders often struggle to accurately describe and cultivate the conditions that enable individuals—and, by extension, organizations—to thrive. Drawing on more than 25 years of experience leading diverse teams and complex organizations, this talk explores a practical framework for understanding and enhancing personal and organizational performance, emphasizing three interdependent components: (1) rigorous assessment of individual capabilities, (2) systematic alignment of those capabilities with opportunities that maximize impact, and (3) intentional design of work environments that foster intrinsic motivation, engagement, and sustained contribution. Through a series of case studies, the talk will illustrate how capability–opportunity fit and engagement-oriented organizational climates translate into measurable performance outcomes. The cases highlight the practical implications of leadership decisions, environmental cues, team composition, and cultural norms. Attendees will gain insight into a set of transferable principles that integrate empirical perspectives with real-world application, offering strategies for academic and industry practitioners seeking to enhance performance in their own contexts.

Come and join us for a picnic! Main dish will be catered by Southern Craft, and we will have a vegetarian option available. Families are welcome to join us, and we would love to have you RSVP so we can get an accurate count. Please bring a dessert or side to share. See you in the park!

As summer winds down, the Executive Committee is gathering information about our upcoming September picnic get together and future programming.  Please take just three minutes to take this survey and let us know how our local section can better serve you.  

Each year, TVHS hosts a National Chemistry Week Event at Eastman.  This year the event will take place the week of October 27-29.  If you are available to help or are interested in hearing more about the event, please contact us here.  We are specifically looking for a Demo Coordinator and Industry Booth Coordinator.  

We are also looking for someone to chair the coordination of the event for next year.  If you are interested in this, please let us know and you can even learn all the tips and tricks alongside our current chair this year.  

This is always a stellar event, and one that we would love for you to participate in as an Eastman employee, retired member, or academic member (bring your students to volunteer!).  Thank you for your consideration of this important event!

Saturday, April 26, 2025
9:00 am – 12:30 pm
Culp Center, ETSU, Johnson City
Annual Upper East Tennessee Science Fair
Offers competition for Regional
Schools in Grades: 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th
Judges are needed for Prizes offered by NETS-ACS
specifically for Chemistry themed projects
BUT ALSO
Judges are needed for General Prizes sponsored by
Kiwanis Club of Johnson City in Physical Science and
Biological Science categories
CONTACT for Judge coordination: Gary Henson
hensong@etsu.edu
423-439-6906

The Virginia Section of the ACS invites allVirginia two-year and four-year schools to join us for a forum / information session about establishing Laboratory Safety Teams (LSTs) at these institutions on Friday, October 18, from 4:30-6:00 PM EST. In partnership with the ACS Office of Safety Programs, the Virginia Section of the ACS will be facilitating this hybrid session at the J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College in Richmond, VA.

LSTs are communities of graduate students and postdoctoral associates that promote a bottom-up approach to safety cultures, empowering members to propose solutions to safety-related issues.

The purpose of our session will be to further acquaint faculty and students with the concept of LSTs and explore how to initiate such student-led communities at their own institutions using the available mechanisms of support. Strengthening student understanding of safety culture and informing them of supportive networks as early in their educational career as possible can only help them to be better scientists in the future!

We hope you can join us to learn more about the LST grassroots movement and how your institution can get involved! Please RSVP and/or address all inquiries about this session to me, Joe Crockett, at jcrocketchem@gmail.com.

This year Marks the 18th year the TVHS-ACS has celebrated Earth Day with the Girl Scouts.

Volunteers are being sought to perform a variety of scientific demonstrations highlighting the chemistry of batteries, e.g. making batteries from Cu/Zn cells, lighting an LED with a battery made from fruit, learning to send morse code with an LED powered by a button battery and copper ribbon plus more. Stations will be set up for hands on demos with groups of Scouts rotating through the various demos. The Scouts range in age from 5 to 13. Materials will be supplied, and volunteers will be trained as necessary.

The event will be held at the ETSU Geosciences Building (Ross Hall) on Saturday, April 20, 2024 from 1:00 PM to 4:30 PM. Volunteers are requested to arrive at 12:00 PM to be trained and help with set up and stay until around 5:00 PM to help clean up.

If interested in volunteering, or for more information, please contact Deborah Wilkinson, TVHS-ACS Chemists Celebrating Earth Week Coordinator by April 1, 2024. For more information and Deborah’s contact information see this flyer.