Farewell and Thank You

As the Faraday Community for Physical Chemistry says a warm welcome to Professor Andrew Mount as he takes over as President of the Faraday Community for Physical Chemistry Council, the community also says a fond farewell, and a huge thank you to outgoing President Professor Dwayne Heard, for his leadership, as well as the time, service, support, hard work, and dedication that he has shown toward the entire Community.

On 15 May 2024, Professor Dwayne Heard chaired his final Council Meeting as President of the Faraday Community for Physical Chemistry and was presented with his medal.

Professor Andrew Mount, President-elect for the Faraday Community for Physical Chemistry thanked Dwayne for his hardwork, dedication, commitment, and time that he had given to the role of President of the Faraday Community for Physical Chemistry. Andrew also noted a few of the highlights of Dwyane’s term of office, including:

• Helping to steer the community through grappling with the pandemic and its aftereffects.
• Reorganisation of the old RSC Divisions into the new Subject Communities and the ensuing challenges, such as the name change to Faraday Community for Physical Chemistry and ensuring that changes were made in a consensual and inclusive way.
• Helping to establish and make successful the Science and Innovation Leadership Forum, a mechanism whereby the Faraday Community for Physical Chemistry can feed directly into key areas of the RSC, for instance, senior RSC leadership, RSC strategy, and the board of trustees.
• Working to improve inclusivity and representation on the Council and in the Faraday Prize portfolio.
• The inaugural Faraday Community Poster Symposium in 2023.
• Support for the RSC’s Sustainable Laboratories and Indoor Air Quality reports.
• Contributions to the Faraday Discussions, having participated in 11 during his time as President and having submitted a topic for inclusion in 2025.

Dwayne had the following to say regarding the end of his time as President of the Faraday Community for Physical Chemistry Council:

I’ve really enjoyed my Presidency over the last three years, mainly because of the wonderful people I’ve had the privilege to work with and I’d like to highlight and thank some of these here.

I’d like to start with the staff of the Royal Society of Chemistry, some of the most professional and hard-working people I’ve worked with. These include the Conference Events Team as well as the Publishing Team, who bring together the very wide discussions at Faraday Discussions into the final volume. Attending Faraday Discussions has definitely been one of the highlights of my Presidency, and I’d like to thank Dr Susan Weatherby from the RSC and Professor Susan Perkin (University of Oxford, Chair of the Faraday Standing Committee on Conferences) for their leadership and passion for Faraday Discussions. I can’t emphasise enough how important Faraday Discussions are, so please do continue to promote and support these, and submit proposals for a new Discussion.

I’ve enjoyed working closely alongside colleagues from the Faraday Community on several committees on which the President serves. First and foremost is Faraday Council, and I’d like to thank especially all Council members past and present who have helped to shape and implement our activities. Some selected highlights for me were (1) the inaugural Faraday Community Poster Symposium, which was held in 2023 and which exceeded all expectations, and which will run again this year, (2) hearing from representatives of our Interest Groups who attend Council and present about their activities, and (3) the Recent Appointees in Physical Chemistry conference where I got to meet members of our community embarking on their academic careers and establishing their networks.

Helping to choose RSC Prize winners is no doubt one of the more challenging aspects of my role given the outstanding nominations received, and I’d like to thank colleagues on the Faraday and main RSC Prize Committees as well as the RSC Prizes team, particularly Andrew Jeskins, who expertly manages the RSC’s Prizes Programme. Another highlight was having the honour to present quite a few of the RSC prize winners with their medals and listening to their inspiring talks about their research.

An outcome of the review of RSC Divisions was the establishment of the Science and Innovation Leadership Forum (SILF), which I have to say was a brilliant idea. Through SILF, I have got to know the Presidents of the other RSC Communities, as well as the RSC leadership team. SILF has filled an important gap and proven an effective conduit for all the Communities to contribute to debate regarding important RSC policy matters. Perhaps more importantly it has facilitated the sharing of best practice amongst the Communities and to highlight the wide-ranging activities of the communities and their many subject groups. Another activity which spanned several RSC Communities was the workshop and resulting influential report on Indoor Air Quality, a topic which has until now not received the attention it should do, given we spend around 90% of our time indoors.

On a personal note, I’d like to thank Wendy Niu and Stuart Govan who worked with me and the Faraday Council during my Presidency. I’d like to thank both my predecessor, Professor Claire Vallance, who provided invaluable support and advice, and my successor, Professor Andrew Mount, who has helped with Faraday business during his year as President-Elect.

Finally, I want to thank Philip Stackhouse, the Faraday Community for Physical Chemistry Programme Manager. Phil has been a constant support during my Presidency. He has organised all aspects of the business of the Faraday Community in a most professional manner, for which I am very grateful.

I’d like to finish by thanking all of you for your involvement and hard work associated with the Faraday Community for Physical Chemistry, which has ensured it continues to be a vibrant and active Community and will remain so in the future.

Best wishes,

Dwayne Heard.

President, Faraday Community for Physical Chemistry