March 2024 Spotlight: Morton Z. Hoffman

Morton Z. Hoffman is Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, Boston University.

In this Member Volunteer Spotlight, learn more how Morton became involved in volunteering as part of ACS, opportunities for mentorship, and advice to others interested in volunteering.

How did you become involved in this volunteer opportunity / position (including details regarding application / interview process if applicable)?

I joined ACS in late 1955, when I began my Ph.D. studies at the University of Michigan.  Over the course of 68 years, I have served on the following ACS governance groups as a member: 

• Task Force on Undergraduate Programming, 1991-2002.
• President’s Task Force on International Education, 1992.
• College Chemistry Consultants Service, 1995-2007.
• Advisory Board/Editorial Review Panel, General Chemistry Textbook Project, 1999-2004.
• Society Committee on Education, 2001-11.
• Board of Directors, Northeast Region of the ACS, 2001-2018.
• Senior Chemists Task Force/Committee, 2009-2014.
• International Activities Committee, 2015-present.

Although I am also a member of the ACS Divisions of Physical Chemistry (PHYS), Inorganic Chemistry (INOR), History of Chemistry (HIST), and Professional Relations (PROF), my greatest level of volunteer service has been as a member of the Division of Chemical Education (CHED):

• Program Committee, 1980-1986, 1992-2004.
• International Activities Committee, 1993-2013.
• Regional Meetings Committee, 1999-2008.
• Chair-Elect (2004), Chair (2005), Immediate Past Chair (2006).

I joined the Northeastern Section (NESACS) upon my arrival in Boston in 1961 as a tenure-track assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry at B.U., and have served as a member of the following NESACS governance groups:

• Board of Directors, 1993-present.
• Committee on Education, 1993-present.
• Alternate Councilor and Councilor, 1994-present.
• German Exchange Organizing Committee, 2001-2023.
• Chair-Elect (2001), Chair (2002), Immediate Past Chair (2003).
• James Flack Norris Award Committee, 2006-2008.
• International Year of Chemistry Committee, 2010-2012.
• Theodore William Richards Award Committee, 2014-2017.

In addition, I served over the years as a columnist, photographer, proofreader, and Associate Editor of The Nucleus.  I am very proud to have been a recipient of the Henry A. Hill Award for Outstanding Service to the Northeastern Section (1999) and the James Flack Norris Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Teaching of Chemistry (2005).

In recognition of my achievements in and contributions to science, the chemistry profession, education, ACS, CHED, and NESACS, I have received the following honors:

• Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 1992.
• Metcalf Cup and Prize for Excellence in Teaching, Boston University, 1994.
• Catalyst Award for Teaching Excellence, American Chemistry Council, 2002.
• John A. Timm Award for Encouraging Young People to Study Chemistry, New England Association of Chemistry Teachers (NEACT), 2003.
• Outstanding Professional Achievement Award, Alumni Association of Hunter College, City University of New York, 2006
• ACS National Award for Volunteer Service, 2007
• Visiting Scientist Award, ACS Western Connecticut Section, 2007.
• Fellow, ACS, 2009.
• Distinguished Contribution to Chemistry Education Award, International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), 2014.
• Fellow, IUPAC, 2014.
• Arno Heyn Memorial Book Prize for Distinguished Service to Publications of NESACS, 2014.
• Zaida C. Morales-Martinez Prize for Outstanding Mentoring of ACS Scholars, 2018.
• CHED Award for Outstanding Service to the Division, 2023.

In 1963, two years after my start at B.U., I volunteered to serve on the NESACS Speakers’ Bureau, and made presentations about careers in chemistry at high schools and colleges in the Greater Boston area.  My volunteer service with NESACS and ACS spans 60 years to the present; I was also the Chair of the NESACS Sub-Section Task Force, which included the Southeastern Massachusetts and New Hampshire areas, for several years.  The Task Force morphed into the SE-MA and NH Programming Committees, which are now chaired by Jack Driscoll and Christine Caputo, respectively.

How did you become involved in this volunteer opportunity / position (including details regarding application / interview process if applicable)?

Having been raised in familial, religious, and moral traditions of volunteer service, it was a natural step to offer my time to my local and national professional organizations once I had gotten my teaching and research activities at B.U. up and running.  I started to go to NESACS monthly meetings, and looked for volunteer opportunities that would be compatible with my personal and professional responsibilities.  I contacted the chair of the Speakers’ Bureau and signed up.  One thing then led to another.  When asked to do something for NESACS or ACS, I never said “no.”

For this volunteer opportunity / position did you have a mentor and/or do you serve as a mentor to others participants in this program? 

Over the course of six decades, I worked closely with many other members of ACS and NESACS in various roles and activities.  In many ways, we were all mentors and mentees to each other.

However, one person stands out at the national ACS level for encouraging, guiding, and mentoring me: Glenn Crosby of Washington State University.  Glenn and I were active in related areas of research (spectroscopy, photophysics, and photochemistry of transition metal coordination complexes) and knew each other’s publications.  We met at ACS meetings and other research conferences in the mid-1970s and chatted about possible volunteer opportunities.  As the CHED Program Committee Chair, he arranged for my appointment to that committee, and convinced me to organize a State-of-the Art Symposium on Radiation Chemistry for the ACS national meeting in Las Vegas in 1981.  The program was very successful, and led to the publication of the articles of the talks in a stand-alone issue of the Journal of Chemical Education.  Never able to say “no,” I organized a similar symposium on Inorganic Photochemistry for the national meeting in Seattle in 1983 with articles in another stand-alone issue of J. Chem. Educ.  Until their passing, Glenn and his wife, Jane, were close friends of my wife, Sandy, and me.

What has been the most rewarding / exciting component of this volunteer opportunity / position?

Without question, it is the meeting and interacting with other people who are also driven toward volunteer service.

What advice would you give to other individuals considering this volunteer opportunity / position?

DO IT!!  You will never regret the joys of the experience.