Meeting Information

Meeting/Event Information

Education Night - Science Olympiad (Hybrid)

September 17, 2026
5:30 PM - 8:30 PM
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Truman College
1145 West Wilson Ave
Chicago, IL 60640
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September 2026 Education Night

Inspiring the Next Gen in Chem

A fireside Chat with Jenny Kopach, CEO of Science Olympiad and President & CEO of the Science Olympiad USA Foundation; Ilana Lemberger, and Jolly Patro, Science Olympiad Alumni Research (SOAR) Grant winner and Graduate Student in Chemistry at Northwestern University.

PROGRAM

• 5:30 - 6:00 PM Check-In, Social Hour, Poster Session

• 6:00 - 7:15 PM Dinner

• 7:15 - 7:30 PM Announcements/Scholarship Awards & Teacher Excellence Award

• 7:30 - 8:30 PM Fireside Chat, Q&A, Closing Remarks

There will be a poster session for undergraduate chemistry students at the September Education Night Meeting of the Chicago ACS. Students who are ready to present posters at other venues and students who have recently presented posters are welcome to discuss their work with those in attendance. Posters should be placed at 5:30 pm at the meeting venue. Student posters will be judged by Chicago ACS Officers using a rubric, and the author of the poster judged to be the best will be awarded a $50 Amazon Gift Card. Any student wishing to present a poster should contact the Co-chair of the College Education Committee, Dr. Robert Chapman, [email protected], before the meeting with their name, their mentor's name, their institution, and the title of their poster.

Register by Noon on September 9, 2026

Click here to see how to get Truman.

QUESTIONS?

QUESTIONS? Please contact the Section Office via phone (847-391-9091) or email ([email protected]).

BIOGRAPHY

Jennifer Kopach

As CEO of Science Olympiad, Jenny oversees business operations of the nation’s largest K-12 team STEM competition, managing grants and partnerships with global corporations, federal government agencies, scientific associations and higher education institutions.

Career highlights include starting the Science Olympiad Urban Schools Initiative and the Science Olympiad Alumni Network; working with President Barack Obama’s Office of Science and Technology Policy on six White House Science Fairs; overseeing international relations with the Japan Science and Technology Agency for the Science Olympiad Global Ambassador Team program; and developing all-new digital “Ways to Play” and “MY SO” during the pandemic to make sure kids stayed engaged in STEM.

The Science Olympiad USA Foundation was created in 2020 to honor the legacy of the founders of the national organization, Dr. Gerard Putz, Sharon Putz and Jack Cairns, and to support scientific research, college scholarships, STEM teaching and the work of state chapters. To date, Science Olympiad and the Science Olympiad USA Foundation have distributed more than $1.5 million in grants. In her role leading the Foundation, Jenny manages alumni and donor relations as well as gifts, investments, capital and programs designed to impact the greater Science Olympiad community.

Jenny is a member of the Science Olympiad Executive Board, the NBC Chicago Community Action Board, the Economic Club of Chicago and the Executives’ Club of Chicago and has served 22 years as elected Democratic Precinct Committeewoman for York Township. She has also served as Chair and Vice Chair of the Economic Club Science, Technology & Innovation Membership Committee; Illinois State Chair for Million Women Mentors; and member of the Governor’s P-20 Council College and Career Readiness Committee, the MxD Workforce Development Committee and the Executives’ Club Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility Task Force.

Through these positions and with a deep commitment to service, Jenny strives to connect the dots between K-12, higher education and industry, funding critical scientific research, creating workforce development programs, securing grants for high-need communities, and providing opportunities for students who need help lighting a career pathway. She has been interviewed and written about bridging STEM skills and gender gaps and has spoken about the power of effective mentoring programs at five Million Women Mentors Summits in Washington, DC. Jenny holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

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Jolly Patro is finishing her first year of a Chemistry PhD program at Northwestern University. A Science Olympiad Heart of Gold winner and National Tournament Co-Director, Jolly continues her love of community service through an NSF Center for the Chemistry of Molecularly Optimized Networks (MONET) grant, providing hands-on activities to students on Chicago’s southwest side.

She credits Science Olympiad with giving students a “platform to learn how to research topics and teach themselves foundational and practical topics in STEM.” Jolly’s work addressing the plastics pollution crisis connects two emerging fields: polymer mechanochemistry and covalent adaptable networks (CANs). Plastics traditionally contain chemicals that are joined by high-strength bonds; by strategically placing weak bonds inside plastics, Jolly hopes to develop a novel material which is damage detecting and reprocessable. “Jolly’s proposal is a brilliant and creative way to both increase the impact of mechanophores and extend the lifetime of materials through self-healing and reprocessing,” said Dr. Julia Kalow, Associate Professor of Chemistry at Northwestern University. Jolly will be first author on a soon-to-be-submitted manuscript on synthetic chemistry.

Tickets

$40.00 Guest and Non-Chicago ACS member

$0.00 Support for High School Scholarships

$35.00 Chicago ACS member

$15.00 Member- Students/Postsdocs

$15.00 Non-Member Students/Postsdocs