Auburn chemistry graduate student shines as only Southeastern recipient of prestigious ACS Class of 2023 Future Leaders honor

Kacey Ortiz, a graduate student in the College of Sciences and Mathematics, or COSAM, was chosen to be part of a highly competitive 2023 class of Future Leaders by the American Chemical Society, or ACS.

“I’m excited for this award because I’ll get to travel to the ACS Headquarters and ACS San Fran, hear about a lot of incredible science and meet a lot of fantastic individuals also doing fantastic research,” Ortiz said. “The award itself is awesome because I’ll be getting to network with other young scientists in the chemistry field who will be working in both academia and industry, and those same people might be the same individuals I get to do collaborative research with one day.”

In this year’s class, hundreds of students from around the globe submitted applications. However, only a total of 35 students and postdoctoral scientists were selected. Of those, only 22 are from the United States, and Ortiz was the only recipient in the entire Southeast region.

“I am proud that Kacey was selected as a future leader by the American Chemical Society,” said Doug Goodwin, chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, or DCB. “Kacey has exceled in his research in Dr. Karimov’s lab. More than this, Kacey has been an integral part of every aspect of our department’s life, mission and programs.

“He was selected as a 2022 Outstanding DCB GTA, he is a member of DCB’s Inclusion, Equity and Diversity Committee, he is vice president of the local affiliate of the ACS Younger Chemists Committee, he recently presented his research at COSAM’s Graduate Student Research Forum and he was a volunteer judge for the Alabama Science and Engineering Fair. He has been a driving force for the department reestablishing its social connections on this side of the pandemic. Kacey’s selection by ACS represents a great opportunity for him to develop his skills as a leader that much further.”

As a Future Leader, Ortiz will receive leadership training, have access to networking opportunities, learn from industry leaders, receive coaching from professionals, travel to the ACS headquarters and conferences and present his research.

Submitted by: Maria Gebhardt