Welcome!

Welcome to the homepage of the Virginia Blue Ridge Section of the American Chemical Society. The Section serves Alleghany, Amherst, Bedford, Botetourt, Campbell, Craig, Floyd, Franklin, Giles, Henry, Montgomery, Pittsylvania, Pulaski, Roanoke, and Rockbridge Counties in Virginia, as well as Mercer County in West Virginia. Section Meetings are held monthly during the academic year, September through May, with no meeting in December.

Next Meeting

721th Meeting of the Virginia Blue Ridge Section, American Chemical Society

Hosted by Roanoke College

Professor Webster Santos will speak on “Exercise in a Pill — Not Your GLP-1 Agonist“

Agenda for Tuesday, October 27, 2026

  • 6:00 PM Dinner, Colket Center
    • From 6:00 to ca. 6:15 pm we will pick up our food in the Commons and eat together in an adjacent room. Attendees should expect to pay around $15 for the all-you-can eat meal. The menu specifics for October 27 is not known, but there will be a salad bar, a pizza bar, a dessert bar, etc., in addition to the daily entree and vegetable offerings. And you can dream about the day when you can eat all that yummy food guilt-free thanks to medicinal chemistry research underway at Virginia Tech.
    • Guests should allow ten minutes to walk from the Colket Center to Trexler Hall.
  • 7:00 Presentation by Dr. Santos, Trexler Hall Room No. 372.

The Blue Ridge Chemist is our monthly newsletter. Information on joining the subscription list can be found at Blue Ridge Chemist. It may be of particular interest to those wishing to attend or looking for more details about our monthly Meetings.

Student Affiliate Chapters in the VBRS

Chemistry Departments Within the VBRS

FAQs:

  • I'm new to the area. How do I get information about the Blue Ridge Section?
    The easiest way to get a feel for our activities is to glance through back issues of our newsletter, the Blue Ridge Chemist. For a Newsletter subscription, send your request to Paul Deck, Dept. of Chemistry, Davidson Hall Room 480, Virginia Tech, 900 West Campus Drive, Blacksburg, VA 24061 or send an e-mail message to pdeck@vt.edu. . Additionally, we use an email list to help us keep in better contact with you (we will not sell or otherwise distribute names from this list to any other parties). If you wish to be part of this list and have not yet been contacted via email regarding this list, please send an email message to Paul Deck with your name and email address.

  • Do I need to be an active member of the ACS to participate?
    No. Almost all our speaker presentations at our meetings are open to the public and free of charge. They are intended as an opportunity to gather together those with a mutual interest in chemistry in particular and issues in science, technology, and engineering in general. Our meetings attract a wide gamut of attendees from academia, industry, and passionate citizen-scientists. The cost of the optional social hour and dinners preceding the speaker's presentation are reduced for students and retired ACS members. Part of the national ACS membership dues are funnelled back to the local sections to support local activities, so we would ask that you consider a professional or affiliate membership if appropriate.

  • What is an affiliate membership?
    An affiliate membership to the VBRS is available for technicians, high school chemistry teachers, and others who deal with chemistry in some way, but do not wish to become regular members of the ACS. The dues are only $5 a year (January - December). For further information please contact Jeremy Stegall, Eastman Chemical Company.