J. soc. cos. CHEM. 15, 59-64 (1964) ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT, LESTER I. CONRAD December 3, 1963 THIS MEETING marks the close of my term as the 18th President of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists. I was first elected Treasurer five years ago. The fact that I held that office for three years before becoming President-Elect and then President attests to a continuity of support for which I shall always be grateful. I must admit to having enjoyed my years of service and the close personal associations which have developed while working with so many of our members, officers and administrative staff. Each new President tries to leave his mark on the SOCIETY by improving and advancing it during his term in office. I have made it my particular burden to improve the professional status of the SOCIETY and of the cosmetic chemist in a concrete way this year. Any success which has been achieved is the result of the cooperation and assistance of a dedicated group of officers, directors and committee chairmen. I will present the highlights of our efforts and let the results speak for themselves. MEETINGS Priority was given to developing scientific programs in joint sponsor- ship with other scientific societies of acknowledged high caliber and prestige. Our May meeting under Program Chairman Raymond Stetzer was held in cooperation with the Committee on Cosmetics of the American Medical Association. There were many prophets of doom and, frankly, we were worried. However, by carefully choosing topics, speakers and the condi- tions for the meeting, an unqualified success resulted. All previous at- tendance records were broken, and the door opened for continued coopera- tion with the AMA on a friendly basis. I believe there is now a feeling of mutual respect which was lacking before in our relations with that organi- zation. The AMA is proposing to publish all the papers presented at the Symposium as a monograph which will be made available at no charge to our members. Our national Seminar held in Boston under the chairmanship of Robert Swaine turned out to be a highly successful meeting from both the attend- ance and content standpoints. The subjects were of current, impelling interest and drew speakers from industry, private laboratories and govern- ment and academic institutions, to add to our stature as a professional society. 59

60 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS We usually have three national meetings per year, but this year we had a fourth. This was the Odor Conference which we cosponsored along with the New York Academy of Sciences and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers. The conference ran for three days. H.J. Amsterdam was conference chairman of the Saturday session which was concerned with Fragrances and Cosmetics. I consider this joint meeting a major achievement for our SOCIETY. We again ac- complished our purpose by associating our name with top level scientific organizations. The excellent papers presented at the conference will be published as a New York Academy of Sciences conference monograph and will also be published in our journal. The scientific program of today's meeting, again under Raymond Stetzer's chairmanship, promises to continue the high standards we have set for ourselves this year, which we hope will be maintained and even exceeded in future years as our Soc•.T¾ grows in scientific stature. AWARDS Our Soci•.,¾, many years ago, wisely adopted the method of regularly bestowing awards as a means of stimulating research and recognizing achievement, and so advancing our scientific purposes. Special Atward In May the Special Award of $1000 was presented to Dr. Jerome Gross of Harvard for his basic studies on the biochemistry of collagen. The Special Award Committee under Herman Jass not only picked an out- standing candidate for the award in Dr. Gross but also raised a substantial amount of money. The total amount in the Special Award Fund is now sufficient to make it self-supporting, and no funds for this purpose will be solicited next year. The interest and dividends on approximately $38,000 in the fund will pay for the Award and attendent expenses, while the capital remains intact. The name, Special Award, which distinguishes that award from the Medal Award, is now seen to be insufficiently descriptive of the standards and purposes of that Award. The Board of Directors has directed the Committee on Awards and Recognition under John Longfellow to recom- mend a more appropriate name. Medal Atward Raymond Reed and his Medal Award Committee have selected a dis- tinguished scientist as the recipient of our top Award. He is Dr. Anthony M. Schwartz of Harris Research Labs. Dr. Schwartz will be honored at our dinner dance this evening for his many contributions in the field of organic chemistry and to the art and science of cosmetics. In the two