Since the 1940s our nation recognized the strategic need for research and training in nuclear science, nuclear chemistry and radiochemistry. These disciplines are essential to the foundation of many 21st century technologies including energy production, the development of nuclear medicine and radiopharmaceuticals, materials science, and national security. Although the subjects of nuclear chemistry and radiochemistry were once prominent in the undergraduate curricula of most US colleges and universities, these courses have slowly disappeared at many academic institutions due to faculty retirements and reductions in research funding in these areas. This history and the resulting manpower shortages are described in the 2012 NAS report “Assuring a Future US-Based Nuclear and Radiochemistry Expertise”. The report emphasizes that the needs for nuclear and radiochemistry expertise are barely being met by current supply and that future needs may not be met. One of the principal reasons for the current and projected challenges is that there is little nuclear and radiochemistry taught at the undergraduate and graduate level and, as a result, students are not exposed to this critical field. Since they were first introduced in 1984, the ACS summer schools in nuclear and radiochemistry have successfully introduced 651 of this nation’s best and brightest undergraduate students to nuclear and radiochemistry. Nearly 20% of the participants have gone on to pursue careers in the nuclear sciences and many of these individuals are now in a position to influence other young people to enter the field. An overview of the history and impact of the schools will be presented.

Thirty years of bridging the gap: The ACS Summer Schools in Nuclear and Radiochemistry

249th National Meeting (2015)

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