Agnes Ann Green Distinguished Service Award

Each year the Southern California Section solicits nominations for an award to recognize outstanding service to the section. The award, named in honor of its first recipient, is based on the following criteria:

The recipient shall have an outstanding record of major service to the Southern California Section.

The recipient shall have made one or more identifiable major contributions to the Section, or to the national ACS through work at the Section level.

It is preferable that the recipient be or have been an officer of the Section.

How to nominate someone for the Agnes Ann Green Distinguished Service Award:

Write a letter documenting the outstanding service your nominee has given to the Southern California Section, and how you think the Section has benefited from that service. If you are uncertain of specific dates of service, give us a general idea of the time frame.

Get a colleague of your nominee, or another person in Section leadership, or both, to write a letter of support for your nominee.

Send the nomination package to:
Service Award Committee Chair
Southern California Section ACS
2700 East Foothill Blvd #209
Pasadena, CA 91107

Alternatively, you may email the nomination package (text only in the body of the email; no attachments please). If your nominee is selected, be prepared to speak about his/her biography of achievements at the Fall Service Award Banquet. The nomination deadline is generally at the end of May each year.

Previous Award Winners:


About the Agnes Ann Green Distinguished Service Award and its Namesake

The Agnes Ann Green Distinguished Service Award is given to a member of the Southern California Section of the American Chemical Society in recognition of his/her outstanding service and commitment to the Section. It is not necessarily given each year, as it is reserved for those members who have set an example of their devotion of time and effort to the well being and goals of the Section and its relationship to the National ACS.

It is fitting that this award was named after its first recipient, Sister Agnes Ann Green. Dr. Green received her B.A. in mathematics and education from the Immaculate Heart College in 1934, her M.S. in chemistry from USC, and her Ph.D. from Stanford in 1946. She then joined the faculty of Immaculate Heart College and subsequently became chair of the chemistry department. She has published research papers on inorganic complexes, solubilization, kinetics and experiments of laboratory course work. Over the years, as a role model at the women’s college, she encouraged over 50 percent of her students to pursue graduate school. In the midst of many labors, she was an active member of ACS and the SCALACS from 1943 until her retirement from service in 1996. During that time she set an outstanding record of 53 years of continuous service to the Section and served as the first woman chairperson in both 1972 and 1973. Her stint as chairperson actually distinguished the type of unselfishness and leadership that eventually suggested this award. As the chair-elect, Agnes, stepped in to finish out the term of the 1972 chair, Dr. William Johnson, who relocated to the East Coast. She then went on to serve her full term as chair in her own right. She was a role model for the women chemists in the Section, chairing committees on chemical education, nominations and awards, long range planning, membership, and the committee work manual revision. On the national level, she was elected six consecutive times as councilor and served on the Women Chemists Committee, Council Committee on Chemical Education, Council Committee on Membership Affairs, and the Committee on Committees.

The Southern California Section’s first Distinguished Service Award was given to Agnes Ann Green in recognition of her outstanding record of continuous service and major contributions to the Section and the national society through her tireless devotion and activity. This is all quite a yardstick to measure the performance of the nominees for the distinguished service award. But Agnes’ record and quality of achievement, a watermark for the Section, creates guidelines for us to value the support, service and leadership of our membership for the benefit of all members and the society as a whole. For this reason, the award may not be offered every year, but will be treasured by the honorees, knowing that he/she has given of their time and efforts in a meaningful way that follows in Agnes’ footsteps. They will know that their colleagues recognize their services and achievements as representative of what the Agnes Ann Green Distinguished Service Award acknowledges in its recipients.

In Memorium

Dr. Agnes Ann Green, IHM, a member of the Immaculate Heart Community for 70 years, was born on August 15th, 1912 in Alvin, Illinois, and died on September 26 at the IHM Kenmore residence, Los Angeles, of lung cancer. In 1926, her family moved to San Bernardino, where she attended high school; she continued her education at Immaculate Heart College in Hollywood and went on to earn graduate degrees, a M. S. from U. S. C. and then a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from Stanford University. She taught chemistry at Immaculate Heart College from 1942 to 1978 and was visiting Professor of Chemistry at Loyola Marymount University, Occidental College, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona; Whittier and Brown University. Along with her teaching career, Agnes Ann was active in many professional organizations and received recognition and awards from her peers. In her honor, the Southern California of the American Chemical Society established “The Agnes Ann Green Distinguished Service Award” in 1988; she was the first recipient to be honored for her outstanding record of major service to the Society, locally and nationally. She was the founding member of the California Association of Chemistry Teachers and also served as her President. Agnes Ann was an untiring advocate for the advancement of women in the field of science, mentoring her own students and working on the local and national level for equity in the profession. She directed national science projects, published numerous scientific articles, and contributed significantly to professional organizations. As a scholar, teacher, friend, and community member, Agnes Ann Green will be remembered for her brilliant intellect, her love of teaching, and her advocacy of women in science. She is survived by her sisters, Eileen Smith and Teresa Winker and by her nieces and nephews. The Immaculate Heart Community celebrated Agnes Ann Green’s life at a funeral Mass on October 3, 2002 and she was buried at Calvary Cemetery on October 4, 2002.