RSC-USA AGM Dinner and Talk 6 PM Saturday, November 22^nd, New York, NY

The Princeton Club of New York

15 West 43rd Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues)
New York, NY 10036 (212-596-1200)

RSC-US members meet in New York, NY

The Annual General Meeting of the Royal Society of Chemistry, (U.S. Section) was held at the Princeton Club of New York on Saturday November 22nd, 2008. All members were invited and encouraged to attend an evening that was an opportunity to conduct the annual business of the Section, while providing occasion to visit friends and new acquaintances, enjoy a pleasant meal, and to hear a stimulating and timely talk. The Princeton Club again provided a convenient venue for the annual general meeting, while New York City provided many possibilities for an enjoyable and productive day.

The evening began at 6:00 PM with a reception featuring hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar, followed by dinner at 7:00 PM and the talk at about 8:30 PM after a short Section business meeting. The meeting adjourned around 10 PM.

After dinner our speaker was Prof. Jimmie Oxley, University of Rhode Island. She discussed the topic: “Studying Energetic Materials: from Safety to Security”, certain to be of interest to the members of the Section.

About Our Speaker: Prof. Oxley works with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Aviation Administration, police agencies across the country, the United Kingdom and Israel on research related to explosives and terrorism, and she is often a first choice of the media when explosives are involved in terrorist attacks. She is frequently called upon to lend her expertise to high profile national and international incidences. Oxley's expertise in peroxide explosives, for example, made her much sought after by bomb squads following the bombings that took place in London in 2005. She was also called to collaborate with the FBI on simulations of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and with British officials to examine large fertilizer bombs. Oxley also worked with New York law enforcement authorities and their canine units on bomb search training. Oxley joined University of Rhode Island in 1993. She holds a bachelor's degree from the University of California, San Diego; a master's degree in chemistry from California State University, Northridge; and a doctorate in chemistry from the University of British Columbia. Oxley is a founding member and a co-director of the Rhode Island Forensic Science Partnership, which is a collaboration of the Rhode Island Crime Laboratory, based at the College of Pharmacy, URI faculty members in textiles, chemistry, chemical, electric, computer engineering, the state Department of Health, the state's law enforcement community, and the insurance industry. Early in the partnership's history, Oxley organized a course for 800 Iowa law enforcement and school officials on how to handle school bomb threats in the wake of the student attacks in Columbine, Colo. She played a key role in developing the forensic science minor and the chemistry and forensic chemistry major at the University. Prof. Oxley will give an overview of energetic materials and the type of studies her group has performed - accident investigations to detonability studies.