FAME Conference
Our largest event is our annual FAME (Florida Annual Meeting and Exposition) where chemists from all over Florida and even across the US meet to present their research, attend valuable workshops, and networking/social events. FAME is an excellent place for students at all levels to present their work
Not an ACS member yet? it’s easy to apply. Your membership will help support FAME and the Florida local section. Abstracts are due August 22, 2025. Early Registration ends August 29, 2025. Here is the current Program-at-a-glance
NOTE: You must be registered to present posters or oral talks.
Reserve your room at Innisbrook ! The earlier you book the cheaper the rate!
Registration Fees
- ACS members $150 early, and$250 late
- ACS nonmembers $300 early, and $450 late
- Retired ACS Members $75 early, and $100 late
- HS and MS teachers $75 early, and $100 late
- Undergraduate student: $50 early, and $60 late
- Graduate student: $60, and $75 late
- ACS 50+ year service $50
Onsite payment? If your institution can not pay via Paypal or any other methods we use, please register, but with the onsite payment method. We can accept cash and checks.
Onsite Registration and payment? Add $50 to your registration fee if you do not take this option above to register online for an On site payment (i.e. if you do not register at all online, you will have an additional fee. It is best to register online). We can accept cash and checks.
Invited speakers are being organized for the following symposia: Analytical Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biophysical Chemistry, Chemical Education, Computational Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, Materials Chemistry, Natural Products Chemistry, Mass Spectrometry, Organic Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, and Polymer Chemistry.
During the meeting, exhibitors will be provided spaces in the foyer of the convention center to provide the best access to meeting participants. Space will allow for about 10-15 exhibitors. The registration for a table is $1,000. This needs to be submitted by August 22, 2025.
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The Fame Committee is pleased to announce the inaugural FAME conference plenary lecture will be by Dr Wayne Jones, the current Chair of the ACS Board of Directors! Wayne E. Jones Jr. is a faculty member at the University of New Hampshire where he has served as dean and provost over the past eight years. He earned a B.S. from St. Michael’s College in 1987 and a Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1991. He has been a member of ACS since 1989.
Inaugural Plenary Lecture (TBA)
The Fame Committee is pleased to announce the inaugural FAME conference plenary lecture will be by Dr Wayne Jones, the current Chair of the ACS Board of Directors! Wayne E. Jones Jr. is a faculty member at the University of New Hampshire where he has served as dean and provost over the past eight years. He earned a B.S. from St. Michael’s College in 1987 and a Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1991. He has been a member of ACS since 1989.
Florida Award
The 2026 Florida Award is please to announce Dr Steven Benner as the recipient! Dr. Steven A. Benner is a chemist whose work has fundamentally reshaped the chemical understanding of genetics, evolution, and the origins of life. He earned his undergraduate and master’s degrees in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Harvard University. He has held professorial appointments at Harvard University, ETH Zurich, and the University of Florida, where he served as the V.T. & Louise Jackson Distinguished Professor of Chemistry.
In 2005, Dr. Benner founded the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution (FfAME) and the Westheimer Institute of Science and Technology (TWIST), organizations dedicated to advancing chemistry at the interface of biology, evolution, and technology. He has also founded biotechnology companies including EraGen Biosciences and Firebird BioMolecular Sciences LLC, and has contributed foundational technologies to multiple additional companies—among them Alantos, Bayer, Siemens, and DNA Script—supporting platforms in drug discovery, molecular diagnostics, and biotechnology. His innovations have led to diagnostic products widely used in medicine and to new strategies for developing novel classes of therapeutics.
Dr. Benner’s laboratory achieved several historic scientific milestones. It was the first to synthesize a gene encoding an enzyme, an achievement that helped establish synthetic biology as a field and enabled new methods for DNA synthesis and sequencing. He also led the first successful efforts to construct DNA systems containing more than four nucleotide building blocks, expanding the genetic alphabet from four letters to twelve and demonstrating that heredity is a fundamentally chemical phenomenon not limited to natural DNA. His work further advanced dynamic combinatorial chemistry, enabling the discovery of small-molecule therapeutic leads, and laid the foundations of paleo-molecular biology through the reconstruction and study of ancestral biomolecules.
In biology, Dr. Benner was instrumental in establishing paleogenetics, in which ancestral genes and proteins from extinct organisms are resurrected and studied experimentally to understand molecular evolution. He has also been a leading figure in astrobiology, developing experimental frameworks for the origin of life, investigating exotic chemistries on worlds such as Venus and Titan, and devising strategies to detect extraterrestrial life that may differ fundamentally from life on Earth.
Dr. Benner’s honors include the Dreyfus Award for Young Faculty, a Sloan Foundation Fellowship, and election as a Fellow of both the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life. He is the author of Life, the Universe, and the Scientific Method and is completing a new book on extant life on Mars, scheduled for publication in Summer 2026.
Florida Showcase Symposium
Florida Showcase Symposium – The Florida Showcase Symposium is to showcase senior members of the Florida local section and the breadth and quality of their research or educational activities. We are pleased to reestablish this honor showcase after a break initiated by the Covid pandemic.
Professor Joe Schlenoff is Robert O. Lawton Professor of Chemistry and Mandelkern Professor of Polymer Science at Florida State University. After a brief stint at Polaroid Corporation (Cambridge, MA), he completed a Ph.D. at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in 1987. He joined the faculty of FSU in 1988. With support from various Federal and State agencies, he has researched the fundamental chemistry of polyelectrolyte complexes as thin films and bulk solids.
He has co-edited a volume on layer-by-layer assembly, published by Wiley-VCH, now in its second edition (2011). He holds ca. 43 U.S. patents. He was Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at FSU from 2007-2011 and oversaw the construction of FSU’s new $72M Chemistry building. He held the Gutenberg Chair at the University of Strasbourg in 2011, won the Florida Award of the American Chemical Society in 2013, was a U.S. Fulbright Fellow in France in 2019, is a Fellow of the PMSE Division of the American Chemical Society and the National Academy of Inventors. From 2014-2020 he was Senior Associate Editor of Langmuir, the ACS journal of colloid and surface science.
Professor Daniel Seidel received his Diplom from the Friedrich-Schiller Universität at Jena, Germany in 1998, after having completed his final year of the program at UT Austin as a fellow of the Trans-Atlantic Student Exchange program. He returned to Austin to perform his graduate studies in the lab of Prof. Jonathan L. Sessler, obtaining his Ph.D. in 2002 for the development of new methods for the synthesis of expanded porphyrin analogues. From 2002–2005, Daniel was an Ernst Schering Postdoctoral Fellow in the group of Prof. David A. Evans at Harvard University, focusing on the development of new metal catalysts for catalytic enantioselective transformations. He started his independent career at Rutgers University in August of 2005. In 2017, his group moved to the University of Florida where he is currently the Katritzky Term Professor in Heterocyclic Chemistry. His research interests focus on the development of new synthetic methodologies, in particular in the areas of C–H bond functionalization, heterocycle synthesis, and asymmetric catalysis.
Professor Dmitry M. Kolpashchikov is a Chemistry Professor at the University of Central Florida. He received PhD in bioorganic chemistry in 1999 from the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Novosibirsk, Russia. This was followed by his postdoctoral training at the National Institute of Genetics, Japan, and at Columbia University in the City of New York. His interests include biochemistry of nucleic acids, hybridization probes, DNA nanotechnology and molecular diagnostics.
FAME 2025 Program
FAME is not possible without our generous supporters! We are happy to thank our following 2025 sponsors. Sponsorship funds our student scholarships, invited speakers, and our receptions.
Macmillan Learning is honored to sponsor this year’s FAME ACS event. We are dedicated to supporting chemistry educators and learners with innovative tools that make teaching and learning more engaging, effective, and accessible. At our table, you can explore Achieve, our premier digital platform that brings together adaptive assignments, interactive resources, and flexible course design to meet the needs of today’s students.
We value the opportunity to connect with chemistry instructors across Florida, share ideas, and learn how we can better support your classrooms. Whether you are looking for ways to streamline course preparation, improve student engagement, or provide equitable learning opportunities, we are here to partner with you.
Thank you for welcoming Macmillan Learning to FAME ACS, we look forward to meaningful conversations and collaborations throughout the event.
