Arno Heyn Memorial Book Prize

The prize is a memorial to Dr.Arno Heyn, a distinguished, long-serving member of the Northeastern Section. Arno occupied most of the offices of the Section at various times, but his most lasting contributions were made when he was the Editor of the NUCLEUS of the Northeastern Section. Under his guidance this publication became the outstanding newsletter among all those published by Sections of the American Chemical Society.

The prize is awarded annually to a person or persons deemed to have made the most important contribution(s) to publications of the Northeastern Section. The awardee is chosen by the Arno Heyn Book Prize Committee which is chaired by the Chair of the Publications Committee. Other Committee members include the Editor of the Nucleus, two members of the Board of Directors appointed by the Section Chair, the Chair of the Awards Committee and the Section Chair, ex officio.

The prize is a book selected by the awardee, who is asked to choose a book that will have long time meaning and value to her/him. A bookplate mounted inside the book cover honors both the award recipient and the memory of Dr. Heyn.
Presentation of the award(s) takes place at the November meeting of the Section.
Harvey C. Steiner Receives 2011 Arno Heyn Book Prize
Harvey Steiner was selected to receive the 2011 Arno Heyn Book Prize. This prize was created in 2005 to honor the late Arno Heyn. Previous winners of the award have been Mark Spitler and Sam Kounaves (2005), Vincent Gale (2006), Vivian Walworth (2007), Myron Simon (2008), Arthur Obermayer (2009) and Donald Rickter (2010).
Harvey has been a critical part of The Nucleus team for twenty years as the owner of Art Related Technology. His job has been to work closely with The Nucleus editor and to transform the original content and rough layout provided by The Nucleus editor into final files for submission to the printer and the NESACS webmaster. Harvey has been the main interface between the printer (currently Turley Printing of Palmer, MA) and The Nucleus.
Harvey has provided many years of continuity in the production of The Nucleus, which has been a key factor enabling stable and timely production of The Nucleus. This was especially true during the unsettled time when Arno Heyn’s illness resulted in multiple changes in editors (Chorghade, Spitler, Filosa) over a one-year period. Harvey’s long history producing the final Nucleus copy simplifies the editor’s job to managing content and layout. The editor does not have to worry about the technical details of producing a professional newsletter.
Harvey has played a critical role in bringing new editors up to speed and deserves a great deal of credit for the continued excellence of The Nucleus.
In addition to our awardee, our section has been fortunate in having many skilled, conscientious people who have created what has been long considered the best newsletter among the local sections of the ACS. Vince Gale, Mark Spitler, Sam Kounaves, Mukund Chorghade, Don Rickter, Sheila Rodman, Mindy Levine, Myke Simon, Vivian Walworth, and Mike Filosa are just a few of these talented people. Arthur Obermayer made the historic step of starting the NESACS website in 1996. It was one of the first local section websites in the ACS.
Many people are needed to put together The Nucleus as reporters, photographers, copy editors, writers, and proofreaders. New volunteers to maintain and improve it are welcomed.
The Heyn Book Prize was awarded at the November monthly meeting, held at Astra-Zeneca in Waltham.
Donald O. Rickter Receives 2010 Arno Heyn Book Prize
Donald O. Rickter received the 2010 Arno Heyn Book Prize at the November 2010 monthly meeting held at Tufts University. This prize was created in 2005 to honor the late Arno Heyn. Previous winners of the award have been Mark Spitler and Sam Kounaves (2005), Vincent Gale (2006), Vivian Walworth (2007), Myron Simon (2008) and Arthur Obermayer (2009).

Don Rickter has been active in the NESACS since 1974. He was a research chemist and information manager at Polaroid in Cambridge for 31 years. Since 1985 he has served as Alternate Councilor or Councilor most years. He was chair of the Board of Publications in 1985 when Adrienne Dey was the editor of the Nucleus. He was the coordinator of seminar listings after Cathy Costello and before Sheila Rodman. During Arno Heyn’s editorship (1989-2004) Don began his specialty as a proofreader.
In addition to our awardee, our section has been fortunate in having many skilled, conscientious people who have created the best newsletter among the local sections of the ACS. Vincent Gale, Mark Spitler, Sam Kounaves, Mukund Chorghade, Myke Simon, Vivian Walworth, and Mike Filosa are just a few of the talented people. Arthur Obermayer made the historic step of starting the NESACS website on 16 September 1996. It was one of the first local section websites in the ACS.
Many people are needed to put together The Nucleus. New volunteers to maintain and improve it will be welcomed. Don says it has been an honor — and fun— to collaborate with outstanding people in chemical publications.

 
Comments from the 2009 Arno Heyn Awardee
Dr. Arthur Obermayer
- by Arthur Obermayer - May 13, 2010

Thank you for presenting these books to me. They have special meaning to me because I am a collector of antiquarian science books. One of the most important books in my collection is the 1680 edition of the Skeptical Chymist by Robert Boyle, which marked the transition from alchemy to chemistry – from metaphysical interpretations to experimental proof.

I am particularly honored with this award because I knew Arno Heyn so well and was impressed with his commitment and dedication to publishing The Nucleus for many years. I worked closely with him when he was Chair of the Board of Publications, and I participated as the webmaster of the Northeastern Section website.
I thought you would be interested in how the website got started. Especially the young people in the audience probably do not realize what the internet was like less than 15 years ago.
As volunteers, my assistant, Betty Solbjor, and I, in the 1990s, initiated the websites of many nonprofit organizations. In 1996, we suggested starting a Northeastern Section website. In those days, we only had dial-up connections and were pleased that the faster, 28.8 kilobyte per second modems were available to replace the 14.4 ones. The website was almost all text because of the long download times for any graphics. Internet access cost about $1/hour, and the newest and best browser was Netscape, which was an exciting new development because it could include graphics.
The Northeastern Section website initially was at the URL: http://www. tiac.net/users/obermayr/nesacs/. There was no Northeastern Section internet budget to purchase a domain and pay for hosting service. It wasn’t until 2000 that the Northeastern Section got its own URL.
Before we started the website in 1996, we contacted the national ACS to enlist their help. However, they had not yet decided how to deal with local sections, and it wasn’t clear when they would decide. As a true entrepreneur, I decided we should just plunge ahead on our own. It was good that I took the initiative because the national ACS converted what I considered a routine request, a no brainer, into a major undertaking. I could not get them to provide a constructive response for two years, and then the response was to send me a ten-page legal agreement. The document was drawn up by lawyers whose purpose was to provide every possible protection to the national ACS institution and not consider
the reasonable and appropriate needs of local sections to take responsible actions without first getting approval from the national organization. As a result, our website to this day is not under the jurisdiction of the national organization.
I have enjoyed describing how the website got started and especially appreciate being recognized for my effort. Over the years I have initiated dozens of websites for nonprofit organizations just to be helpful, but this is the first time I have been honored for it.