Dr Richard Whewell FRSC

As co-founder of the ECTN Chemistry Network, I met well over a hundred chemistry departments across European universities and felt that ECTN had a role complementary to EuChemS in global chemistry. Some aspects of my experience could be useful to the RSC's work, so I was elected to the new Qualifications and Professional Practice Board in 2007. Following re-arrangement of the committee remit, I continued on the Admissions Committee, where the duties were fascinating and highly worthwhile. It was particularly reassuring to find that the committee was well-weighted towards industrial chemists, with whom many of our students would seek employment. We dealt not only with RSC membership but also with the award of CChem, with training for CChem and eventually with CSci. This experience stimulated me to volunteer for my local Section Committee at their 2013 AGM in Bradford soon after my retirement.

A long list of memorable discussions and visits to industrial sites at home and abroad and to universities across Europe, America, Canada and elsewhere – these would be my highlights. The experience gained was fed back to my university and to many other institutions when it was relevant. Especially when changes are afoot, there is so much that we can share, and this sort of knowledge underpins important matters such as academic and professional recognition.

I certainly had a busy work life, but managed it by ensuring that my employer knew what I was doing and was able to understand how the results of my volunteering fitted with and helped what I was employed to do. With a good education-based employer and outward-looking Heads of Department, this approach was successful. If the voluntary work was more peripheral and attracted negative views, I would advise carrying it out after retirement! It may then be the employer who loses out, as the personal skills of an employee are developed by volunteer activities and include much that is sought in job interviews.

Very simple advice – go ahead! You can meet good people and learn from them, especially when you disagree. With any use of your time, see early on whether your colleagues can tell facts from factoids, and whether discussion based on evidence rather than anecdote is appreciated. Where is the discussion heading? For example, school leavers’ views of calculus often seem restricted to how to differentiate and integrate but omit completely what using calculus can do for them as physical chemists! I think that the RSC will inspire you, develop your generic competencies, and not disappoint, but others for whom you volunteer may be very different.