ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A Sandia National Laboratories chemical engineer whose team partners with chemistry labs around the world to ensure chemicals are handled safely and securely has been named a 2013 American Chemical Society (ACS) Fellow. The prestigious honor, given by the world’s largest scientific society, is awarded to scientists who have demonstrated outstanding accomplishments in chemistry and have made important contributions to ACS.
In 2007, Nancy Jackson helped the U.S. Department of State create the Chemical Security Engagement Program, and closely works with scientists worldwide, particularly in developing countries, to promote safe use of chemicals and keep them from falling into the wrong hands. She is the manager of Sandia’s International Chemical Threat Reduction program, and her work has led to crucial programs to help laboratories in some of the world’s most volatile regions manage their chemical inventories and secure their chemicals, as well as train future chemists and laboratory trainers in safe handling techniques. The programs teach chemists and chemical engineers the importance of personal protective equipment, maintaining working chemical hoods, chemical management and physical security. The Sandia program’s goal is to educate professors and those who will be training others in safety and security measures.
Jackson has been closely involved with the ACS for more than 34 years and served as its president in 2011. The ACS Board of Directors selected Jackson as a Fellow for her work in developing and contributing to international scientist-to-scientist programs sharing chemical safety and security with academia, industry and government in developing countries.
“Being named a Fellow of ACS means the world to me. So much of my professional life has included and benefitted from my involvement in this outstanding organization,” Jackson said. “This is a tremendous honor.”
Jackson is also a Fellow in the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), which also awarded her the 2012 AAAS Award for Science Diplomacy.
ACS Fellows are selected based on excellence and leadership in two categories: science, the profession, education and/or management; and volunteer service in the ACS community. The 2013 Fellows will be recognized at an induction ceremony on Monday, Sept. 9, during ACS’s 246th annual meeting in Indianapolis.