Ethiopian Chemical Society in North America (ECSNA) | home
Our mission
Ethiopian Chemists in US and other professionals in related fields have formed a professional association on July 3rd 1998 here in US in the state of New Jersey. The association, hereby called the Ethiopian Chemical Society in North America will run as independent entity, but will have a strong link with the sister organization in Ethiopia, namely the Chemical Society of Ethiopia and the Ethiopian Scientific Society. As a professional organization, it will be a non-political and a nonprofit organization, and will promote only those ideals related to the chemical profession and chemical education as guided by its objectives discussed below.
Objectives:
1. Networking of Ethiopian Chemists and others working in related areas in US.
To help each other develop professionallyTo create a medium for communicating chemical discoveries and Scientific advances.
2. To encourage and help young Ethiopians that are pursuing or planning to pursue chemistry and related fields here in US and in Ethiopia.
3. To encourage the collaboration and participation of professional Chemists in US in the promotion and development of chemical research and education in Ethiopia.
5. To establish relationships with similar professional organizations in the US, especially with the American Chemical Society.
Highlights of activities of the Ethiopian Chemical Society in North America
Dr. Aberra Furra, Senior Research Investigator, Bristol Myers Squibb, NJ. and President of ECSNA
Background
There are many Ethiopian intellectuals in the Diaspora. Among these are Chemists, and other professionals working in related disciplines such as biochemistry, pharmaceutical, medicinal, clinical chemistry, chemical physics and chemical engineering etc. in North America. These individuals work in academia, various industries, and government institutions and have rich and diverse experiences. It is, therefore, imperative to bring these intellectuals together so they can share their experiences and be able to support each other and those in similar professions in our home country.
At this time of magnificent human history, we are faced with numerous challenges and opportunities. Every challenge gives rise to new opportunity. It is important that we come together and work towards building a viable and lasting professional organization to meet these challenges and take advantage of the opportunities. Such a professional organization would not only benefit its members but also can make a difference in the lives of our people here in the Diaspora and in our home country. It is in light of this that Ethiopian Chemists and others in related fields residing in North America, formed the Ethiopian Chemical Society in North America (ECSNA) on July 3rd 1998 in Washington, DC.
ECSNA is an independent scientific society, but will form strong link and working relationships with the Chemical Society of Ethiopia (CSE) and other professional societies such as Ethiopian Scientific Society (ESS) and the American Chemical Society (ACS). As a professional organization, it is non-political and non-profit, and will promote only those ideals related to the chemical profession and chemical education as guided by its mission and objectives.
The objectives of ECSNA are:
1) To build a network of Ethiopian chemists and others in related fields in North America, to help each other develop professionally, through sharing experiences, chemical discoveries and scientific advances.
2) To encourage and support young Ethiopians that are pursuing or planning to pursue chemistry and related fields here in North America and in Ethiopia.
3) To encourage collaboration and participation of its members in promoting chemical research and education in Ethiopia.
4) To support the activities of the chemical society of Ethiopia.
5) To establish relationships with similar professional organizations in North America, especially with the American Chemical Society.
Establishment of ECSNA
ECSNA evolved out of the continuos effort of CSE and individual chemists here in US to bring together Ethiopian Chemists and those in related fields. The concept was initially started by the Ethiopian Chemical Society. With the objectives of forming a working relationship
with the chemists of Ethiopian origin in US, CSE came up with proposal for the formation of an organization by the name of CSE-US chapter. Subsequently, the then President of CSE, Professor Negussie Retta, during his visit to the US, met with few Ethiopian chemists in Washington DC in summer of 1997. Thereafter, we spent the rest of 1997 and the better part of 1998 in membership drive, outlining objectives and missions for our effort. During this interim period, the Ethiopian Scientific Society (ESS) had generously provided us with an electronic forum and moral support. We then convened in July 1998 at the World Bank Complex, in Washington DC and founded ECSNA. The conference hall was arranged for us by the Ethiopian Scientific Society.
Top on the agenda at this meeting were the mission, objectives and goals of the new organization, which are discussed above. One other issue discussed at this initial meeting was the nature of relationships that could exist between CSE, ESS and the new organization. After thorough discussion, the participants concluded that in order to build a viable and sustainable organization that would promote the ideals of its members, it was important to form an independent organization. It was further discussed that the formation of an effective, independent organization here in North America would have a lasting and positive impact on the nature and outcome of any relationship that could exist with CSE and would naturally lead to the fulfillment of the objectives of CSE. Similarly, it was also discussed that the formation of new organization under the umbrella of ESS could promote the idea of bringing together Ethiopian scientists and engineers of all fields under an existing Ethiopian professional organization. However, the participants felt that if organized under the ESS, the new organization could fall into the temptation of delegating or rubbing off its responsibilities on to ESS and would fail to fully carry out its objectives. As a result, the participants unanimously decided to keep the new organization independent, leaving open the option of working under the ESS in future.
Consequently, the founding members decided to replace the name used during the interim period, i.e. the Chemical Society of Ethiopia-US Chapter to ECSNA. The new name is desired to reflect the society's mission and objectives and will embrace professionals in all regions in North America.
The founding members also elected executive officers, consisting of chairperson, secretary, and treasurer. The members also came up with action plans to be spearheaded by selected individuals.
Some of the action plans were,
1) The preparation of the society's by-law and legalization of the society in US.
2) A membership drive and networking efforts.
3) Resource finding
4) Membership fee
5) Launching of scholarship for AAU chemistry students.
6) Society's Web page construction
7) Initiation of periodical Newsletter
8) Donation of a lump sum fee of $100.00 by founding members, to help pay for all expenses needed to carry out the above plans other than the scholarship fee, which was decided to be handled separately.
Highlights of the executive committee meeting minutes
Since the time of its formation in Washington DC, the executive officers have had five meetings. During these meetings various issues were discussed and attempts were made to implement the aforementioned action plans. The followings are highlights of what have been accomplished so far.
Support the activities of CSE
As described above we have already started collaborating with CSE in several areas. One other objective of ECSNA is to support the activities of CSE by way of soliciting papers and articles for its journal, the Bulletin of the Chemical Society of Ethiopia and to serve as possible reviewers. Consistent with this objective, one ECSNA member had already served as a reviewer of one paper for this journal. We will continue to participate in such activities.
Organizing book drive
ECSNA through its members has recently organized book drive efforts. Several ECSNA members, namely, Dr Kebede Beshah, Dr Yilma Gultineh, and Dr Kitaw Negash have recently collected and donated a number of chemistry books to AAU. These books and journals will be used both by the faculty and students at graduate and undergraduate level. ECSNA will continue this effort in an organized manner in collaboration with different academic and research institutions in Ethiopia.
ECSNA's by-law and legalization
The legalization of the society is key to the realization of our objectives. As a result the executive committee had drafted a by-law and presented to the members of the society for discussion. We have now members approved draft by-law and are currently discussing with a lawyer to finalize the legalization process.
Newsletter
The executive officers have also discussed in several meetings the importance of launching a society's newsletter. Two members have already been selected to design the shape and the content of the Newsletter. They will then present it to ECSNA members for further discussions.
Conclusions
We believe that there is untapped resource of Ethiopian intellectuals in Diaspora particularly in North America. We feel that we have a great degree of expertise and diverse experiences that if put together could make great differences in the lives of our people here in Diaspora and in our home country.
Although ECSNA has a good start in this regard and there is already a reasonable degree of progress towards accomplishing its objectives, we recognize that there is still much more to be done in the time ahead. We therefore encourage all of you to get involved and play an active role in this professional society.
