The Chemistry Olympiad Process |
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The International Olympiad began in 1968 in Eastern Europe. The first participating teams were from Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Other countries from Eastern and Western Europe soon joined the program and in 1984, the U.S. sent its first team. The Detroit Section began participating in 1985. Each team has four members. The American effort to choose team members, sponsored by the American Chemical Society, consists of a series of competitions. The competitions include local Section and National exams and a two week study camp. Anyone interested in the details of the entire process will find, probably, more than they ever wanted to know starting at this ACS site link The Detroit Section has participated in the Olympiad since 1985. The administration of the local process is carried out by members of the Section's Education Committee. In the fourteen years, 1985 through 1998, Professor Richard Potts of U of M-Dearborn headed up the effort. Since 1999, Professor Mark De Camp, also from U of M-Dearborn, took over in anticipation of Dr. Potts' retirement in 2000.. They, the Education Committee, teachers, parents, and students have done a marvelous job. Typically, participation in the program has been excellent. Annually, some 250 -350 local high school students from ~ 40 different schools take the local examination. The Section, based on exam scores and Olympiad rules, nominates ten students to take the National Exam. Ten runners up are also picked. The National ACS, based on National exam performance chooses twenty students to participate in the Study Camp. Four of the twenty are picked to be the U.S. National team. The Maltida Wilson Fund and the Ford Motor Compamy have been very generous in providing financial support for this Section program. The Section has been extremely fortunate to have had so many of its nominees advance to the Study Camp Phase. It is an honor for a Section to send just one student to the Camp. 2002 was the 16th straight year that the Section has had at least one student at the Camp. 2003 was the first time in 17 years that no Section nominee attended the Study camp, but in 2004 we were back on track with a Study Camp attendee. This record is a great tribute to the students, their parents and teachers. A list of the Section nominees who have attended the Study Camp is available at this link .
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