The Catalysis Club of Philadelphia
Official By Laws

Amendments:

  1. Revised - March, 1957
  2. Amended - October, 1966
  3. Amended - October, 1967
  4. Amended - April, 1975
  5. Amended - December, 1978
  6. Amended - January, 1981
  7. Amended - January, 1983
  8. Amended - October, 1984
  9. Revised & Amended - November, 1994
  10. Amended - October, 2000
  11. Amended - February 22, 2007

BY–LAW I

Name:

The name of the organization shall be “The Catalysis Club of Philadelphia”.

BY–LAW II

Objectives:

The principal objectives of the Club shall be:

  1. To foster discussion of worthy advances in the fields of catalysis and reaction mechanisms in chemistry.
  2. To provide opportunities for members to present, for discussion, their own work in the above fields.
  3. Generally to advance knowledge in the fields of catalysis and reaction mechanisms.
  4. To engender a feeling of fellowship and unity among the chemists, chemical engineers, material scientists and other scientists in the Philadelphia area who are interested in catalysis and related subjects (as amended – November, 1994).

BY–LAW III

Membership:

Membership in this Club shall be open to all persons who are genuinely interested in achieving the objectives described in By–Law II and who indicate their desire to join and pay the annual dues. Club members who have retired shall be entitled to honorary membership and shall be exempt from dues (as amended – October, 1967).

BY–LAW IV

Officers:

  1. The officers of the club shall be a Chairman, a Chairman–elect, and Treasurer. The Chairman–elect shall serve as Vice–Chairman (as amended – November 1994).
  2. The duties of the Chairman shall be to call and preside at meetings of the Club, and to undertake or to delegate – such as to committees – those actions which are deemed necessary to achieve the objectives of the Club or to carry out the policies of the Executive Committee. The Chairman shall also distribute the By–Laws to each newly elected officer and each appointed officer to the Executive Committee at the first business meeting after the election (as amended – November 1994).
  3. The Chairman–elect shall automatically succeed to the Chairmanship. The chairman–elect shall be responsible for arranging and running the spring symposium (as amended – November 1994).
  4. The duties of the Treasurer shall be to send notices for dues, collect dues, and keep a list of members. He also shall handle all financial matters pertaining to the business of the Club, subject to approval by the Executive Committee (as amended – November 1994).
  5. The Executive Committee shall consist of the officers of the Club, the immediate Past–Chairman, three elected Directors, a Representative to the Catalysis Society, and three officers appointed by the Chairman: Arrangements, Secretary (as amended – October 2000), and Program. Secretary (as amended – October 2000) shall include sending to members such notices as the business of the Club may require, notifying members of the time and place of meetings, keeping minutes of the business meetings, and taking care of such correspondence as the business of the Club requires (as amended – November 1994). They shall adopt and recommend to the Chairman for execution those policies and plan which will best further the achievement of the objectives of the Club. The Representative to The Catalysis Society shall serve on the Board of Directors of the Catalysis Society and shall be responsible to the Executive Committee of the Club (as amended – October, 1984).
  6. In the event of the inability of the Representative to the Catalysis Society to attend any specific meeting of the Catalysis Society, The Executive Committee shall appoint a temporary representative to act in his place. The elected Representative shall execute any proxies required by the appointed temporary representative (as amended – October, 1966).
  7. The duties of the Directors shall include management of the graduate student poster contest, solicitation of the monthly meeting hour sponsors, publicity or other duties recommended by consensus of the Executive Committee (revised - November 1994).

BY–LAW V

Elections:

  1. Meetings of the Club shall be held during the usual academic year. Regular elections shall be held at the last meeting of such a year. Special elections to fill any vacancy can be called by a majority vote of the Executive Committee and held at any meeting of the Club. Nominations shall be made from the floor at the February meeting or March if no February meeting is held. Two or more nominations must be made for each office. A biographical sketch for each candidate will be printed in the succeeding meeting announcements. The elections shall be conducted by the Chairman with two assistants appointed by him (as amended – October, 1984).
  2. All officers and members of the Executive Committee, with the exception of the Representative to the Catalysis Society, shall serve (as amended – October 2000) for a term of one year, commencing on the first day of June following election. The Representative to the Catalysis Society shall be elected to serve for a term of four years, commencing on the first day of June following election. Officers and members of the Executive Committee elected to fill a vacancy shall serve for the unexpired term of office (as amended – October, 1967).

BY–LAW VI

Dues:

Members of the Club shall pay regular dues not to exceed $8.00 (as amended – November 1994). Dues of members are payable in advance (as amended December, 1980). In addition to the regular dues of the Catalysis Club of Philadelphia, additional dues may be collected for the National Catalysis Society. The collection of these dues is at the discretion of the Executive Committee (as amended – January, 1983).

BY–LAW VII

Meetings:

The frequency of the meetings of the Club shall be at the discretion of the Executive Committee with a minimum of three meetings per year and a one–day symposium. The one–day symposium may be omitted, if necessary, by a two–thirds vote of the Executive Committee.

BY–LAW VIII

Parliamentary Authority:

The rules obtained in Roberts' Rules (Revised) shall govern all meetings of the Executive Committee and business meetings of the Club.

BY–LAW IX

Amendments:

These By–Laws may be amended by two–thirds vote of the members present and in good standing at a regular meeting of the Club, provided the proposed changes have been read at the preceding meeting.

  1. An Award is hereby established and is to be known as The Catalysis Club of Philadelphia Award. This award is to be a person, preferably from the Philadelphia area, who has made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of catalysis. Such advancement can be scientific, technological or in organization leadership. No split Award to two or more persons shall be give.
  2. The Award consists of a scroll suitably inscribed and is to be presented at a scheduled Club meeting. A small memento also suitably inscribed may also be presented (as amended – November 1994).
  3. The Award may also include a cash prize. The decision on whether to award a cash prize and the amount of the prize will be determined each year and must be approved by two-thirds of the members of the executive committee. The Club will permit sponsors to contribute specifically to the yearly Award and the sponsor will be appropriately acknowledged (as amended – February 22, 2007).
  4. The Award is to be given not more than once each Club year and it is not necessary to be given every year. The Award winner shall be selected by simple majority vote of the Executive Committee from a slate proposed by a five (5) member Nominating Committee. The Executive Committee at any time before the final Awardee election, and by two–thirds (2/3) majority vote of its members, may reject the entire slate of candidates. Rejection of the slate by the Executive Committee constitutes the establishment of a Club year in which no Award shall be given. The slate of candidates offered by the Nominating Committee may contain no greater than two candidates. If only one candidate is offered and that candidate does not receive a simple majority endorsement by the Executive Committee, the Nominating Committee may be called by the Club Chairman to reconvene to establish a new slate. If a zero candidate slate is offered by the Nominating Committee, a simple majority vote endorsement by the members of the Executive Committee will establish a Club year in which no Award is given.
  5. The Nominating Committee of five (5) Club members shall consist of Club Chairman, the Immediate Past Chairman, who will act as Nominating Committee Chairman, and three additional members chosen by the Club Chairman. Preferably no more than one of these additional three shall also be a member of the Executive Committee. The Club Chairman shall also attempt to achieve the widest possible representation on the Nominating Committee by the general Club membership. If the Immediate Past–Chairman is unable to serve, the Club Chairman may replace him with any Past Chairman of the Club. The replacement will chair the Nominating Committee. The Chairman of the Nominating Committee shall organize, call and conduct the meeting(s) necessary to establish the candidate slate. It is the Nominating Committee Chairman's responsiblity to report the slate to the Club Chairman. The Nominating Committee Chairman shall report the candidate slate to the Club Chairman promptly.
  6. The Club Chairman shall conduct all polls of the Executive Committee for this Award. At the time the Club Chairman achieves a simple majority for a candidate through his polling of the Executive Committee, an Awardee for that Club year shall be considered selected. The Club Chairman shall inform all members of the Executive and Nominating Committees when an Awardee has been selected. The Club Treasurer shall be responsible (as amended – November 1994) for obtaining the scroll and memento, if any (added April 24, 1975).

BY–LAW X

“No implication of gender is to be interpreted by any terminology used in these By–Laws or any amendments thereto.”