THE CHEMIST AS A PROFESSIONAL MAN* By RAYMOND E. KIRK ß Head, Department of Chemistry, and Dean, Graduate School, Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, Brooklyn, N.Y. CHEMISTRY AS a profession has come of age. It has, however only recently reached this stature. The best evidence that this is so is in the fact that this talk is being given at all. Does one find such a title on the program of the American Medical Association or of the Ameri- can Bar Association? We are con- cfirned about our professional status since it is of such recent growth. Not hll of our colleagues appreciate it not all, of our neighbors under- stand it not all of our employers recognize it. American engineers seem concerned regarding their cul- tural attainments American chem- ists are concerned about their pro- fessional status. The older "learned professions" do not seem to worry about either. Their cultural at- tainments and their professional status are of long standing and are given wide public recognition. This relatively recent awareness of the professional status of chem- ists is the outstanding event of re- cent years in our profession. The rumblings in the local sections of the American Chemical Society the * Presented at the December 3, 1947• Meeting, New York City. 78 emergence of the small but ex- tremely vigorous American Insti- tute of Chemists the many panel discussions about "professionalism," about "mandatory" versus "per- missive licensing" of chemists, and about "national certification" of chemists all bear out my thesis. Our unusual concern about pro-. fessional status shows that we now have it and that we are not entirely clear what we should do with it/ Forty years ago some of the chem- istry students at a few universities of the middle west wrote a ritual for Alplia Chi Sigma. I presume that most chemists know that Alpha Chi Sigma is now the largest of several so-called "professional" fra- ternities in chemistry. In ene of the less juvenile sections of the rit- ual, one finds "chemistry both as a science and as a profession." I do not believe that major students today would write the same words if faced with the necessity of writing a similar ritual. They would, or so it seems to me, assume that any one in college wishing to enter the pro- fession would need to master the science in order to be an "entered apprentice" in the profession. More

THE CHEMIST AS A PROFESSIONAL MAN 79 and more young men, and their parents, draw the parallel with the profession of medicine. This they do both as regards the character of the profession and the length of training required. They even seem surprised to learn that it is still possible to earn a living (if that be the right word) after only four years of university training. It was not so when I.went to the university! It seems to me that this too tells us that professional status has i . I I I ß omer cnem•sts caugnr almost un- aware. The question now is, what shall we do with professional status now that we have it? Men in this room have been among those who have helped to bring about the present situation. Those of us who are between 40 and 60 can now say: "All of it I saw, part of it I was." The many thriv- ing although specialized organiza- tions among chemists have aided greatly in the attainment of pro- fessional status. The Society of Cosmetic Chemists is, I know, mak- ing a considerable contribution to ß this end. The glowing tendency to sort out professional workers in industry from operatives and technicians is in my opinion highly commendatory and should be urged upon manage- ment wherever and whenever pos- sible. Management has a real re- sponsibility here to establish sepa- rate and very different procedures for the discussions of wages and working conditions with the two groups. When management neglects this it is headed for trouble for real trouble! Here, too, the older members of the profession, often in positions where management will listen, have a real responsibility and a genuine opportunity for advance- ß ment of the profession. Lawyers and medical men have no trouble protecting the professional rights of their younger men in industry. Why not? Because the older men make a point in their dealings with management to stress the pro- fessional character of the services rendered by younger men. The medical doctor is never classed with the medical technician why should the professional chemist be grouped with the chemical technician or the chemical engineer with the chemical operative ? We have it in our power to prevent such foolish classifica- tions. As groups of chemists we can do much: as individuals we can do a great deal more! We must now consolidate our gains as a rela- tively new profession but one whose prestige has mounted much faster than any of us really appreciate. Then, too, in our lives as citizens we can measure up to what is ex- pected of members of learned pro- lessions! We should serve on local school boards along with the other professional men of our communi- ties. Who can better aid in system- atic introduction of youth to modern culture and civilization than the scientist whose fellows have done so much to improve the ma- terials of the modern world and to ease the burdens of sickness? Why do we not serve more often on village committees and commissions? Who