Gordon Research Conferences are a group of international

scientific conference An academic conference or scientific conference (also congress, symposium, workshop, or meeting) is an event for researchers (not necessarily academics) to present and discuss their scholarly work. Together with academic or scientific journals a ...

s organized by a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

of the same name, since 1931 covering frontier research in the

chemical A chemical substance is a unique form of matter with constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Chemical substances may take the form of a single element or chemical compounds. If two or more chemical substances can be combin ...

, and physical and later

biological Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, and distribution of ...

, sciences, and their related technologies. The conferences have been held in the US since 1931, and have expanded to almost 400 conferences per year since 1990, including Europe and Asia. Conference locations are chosen partly for their scenic and often isolated nature, to encourage an informal community atmosphere. Contributions are off the record, with references to the conference in any publication strictly prohibited to encourage free discussion, often of unpublished research. In 1991, conferences were extended to cover

science education Science education is the teaching and learning of science to school children, college students, or adults within the general public. The field of science education includes work in science content, science process (the scientific method), some ...

History

The Gordon Research Conferences (GRC) were initiated by

Neil Gordon Neil Elbridge Gordon (October 7, 1886 – May 30, 1949) was an American chemist and educator. He founded the ''Journal of Chemical Education'' () and established the Gordon Research Conferences (). Life He held several Chair positions spannin ...

while at

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

. The forerunner of the conferences were the summer sessions held at the chemistry department in the late 1920s. By 1931 this had evolved into a graduate seminar that was also attended by external participants. In the mid-1930s, GRC moved to Gibson Island, Maryland. In 1947, GRC moved to

New London, New Hampshire New London is a New England town, town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 4,400 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The town is the home of Colby–Sawyer College, site ...

, holding 10 conferences. In the 1960s, there were only a hundred attendees. GRC expanded into Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, and Rhode Island and as of May 2023, hosts more than 20 meetings per week during the summer. In 1963, GRC began the "West Coast winter series" January through May, when the Polymers Conference moved to

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...

, in 1980, to

Ventura, California Ventura, officially named San Buenaventura (Spanish for "Saint Bonaventure"), is a city in and the county seat of Ventura County, California, United States. It is a coastal city located northwest of Los Angeles. The population was 110,763 at the ...

, and in 2009, expanding to

Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...

. As of 2023 there are more than 70 winter meetings each year. Starting in 1990, GRC expanded outside of the U.S. into Italy, Switzerland, Spain and Hong Kong. In 1958 newspapers reported the conference was "restricted to men who are internationally recognized as the top experts in their fields". In 2005, 28 percent of attendees were female. As of May 2023, GRC had diversity initiatives for "women and all underrepresented groups ..within its 400 communities" for

diversity, equity and inclusion In the United States, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are organizational frameworks that seek to promote the fair treatment and full participation of all people, particularly groups who have historically been underrepresented or subject ...

Topics

In 1991, conferences were extended to cover

. The conference topics are regularly published in the journal ''

Science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

'': 2017, 2015, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, and 2006.

Leadership

As of 2023, the CEO is chemist Nancy Ryan Gray. Since inception, GRC directors had exclusively been white males: from 1947-1968 W. George Parks, from 1968-1993 Alexander M. Cruickshank and Carlyle B. Storm from 1993-2003. Vicki Chandler served GRC as an elected council member and board of trustees member and chair.

References

External links

Gordon Research Conferences website
Academic conferences {{sci-org-stub

History

Topics

Leadership

See also

References

External links