Brief History of ISCC

Originally compiled by C. D. Schaeffer and C. H.Yoder, 2010

The inaugural Intercollegiate Student Chemists Convention (ISCC) was held on April 18, 1936, under the guidance of Professor William Buel Meldrum of Haverford College. Eleven charter member institutions participated in the first convention: Bryn Mawr College, Dickinson College, Drexel Institute of Technology, Gettysburg College, Haverford College, Johns Hopkins University, Lafayette College, Swarthmore College, Temple University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Ursinus College. Since that time, many more institutions have joined the organization. Undergraduate students from institutions in Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, and Pennsylvania have met for the past eight-five years (with a brief interruption during World War II) to discuss their original research in chemistry. The ISC Convention appears to be the oldest, continuously meeting annual convention of its type in the USA.

The convention format has gradually evolved into a “mini-ACS”-style meeting, with oral presentations (normally, in several judged concurrent sessions) in the traditional subdisciplines of chemistry. Prizes are awarded to the top two student presentations in each division. A plenary speaker, chosen to represent a broad spectrum of the group’s academic and industrial interests, highlights the afternoon program, along with a luncheon and public recognition of the awardees. Representative past speakers include: Hubert N. Alyea, Ernest L. Eliel, Henry A. Bent, Calvin A. Van der Werf, Paul von Ragué Schleyer, Alan G. MacDiarmid, Gordon G. Hammes, Alfred R. Bader, Harry Alcock, James E. Huheey, Harold W. Heine, John J. Eisch, Jerrold Meinwald, and Ronald Breslow.

Except for supervision of research, there is probably no closer collaboration between undergraduate chemistry students and faculty than in organizing and hosting an annual ISCC meeting. Obviously, a large number of chemistry faculty have worked to insure the extraordinary continuity of the convention during the seven decades of its existence, but particularly those serving as Executive Secretary. Several of these are: Roger P. Staiger, John L. Burmeister, Neil H. Potter, Ray K. Schultz, Wayne P. Anderson, Fred A. Snavely, James N. Spencer, Charles D. Schaeffer, Victor J. Tortorelli, and Jennifer L. Morford.

Numerous individuals who presented their first professional papers at the ISC have gone on to pursue successful careers in chemistry. The final listings include a selected few of these former undergraduate chemistry students accompanied by their undergraduate research alma maters and the dates of their initial ISC experiences. How many of these and other former ISC student alumni can you identify who have matured to achieve careers as inspiring teachers, motivated research colleagues, overall role models, or all of these? As chemistry education evolves into the twenty-first century, the nurturing of the ideals exemplified by the rich historical tradition of the ISCC becomes increasingly relevant to rigorous student preparation. The ISCC has as its cornerstone ideal the ability to conduct, recognize, and reward meaningful undergraduate research in the chemical sciences. You are invited to join us once again this year to continue the tradition.