Dr. Don Williams, professor of chemistry at Hope College, recently returned from Chicago, Ill., where he helped lead a workshop on behalf of the American Nuclear Society (ANS) to help build interest in science. 

          The April 7-8 workshop was significantly different
  from others in which he has been involved, Williams said,
  because it was for the organizers of future science-teacher
  workshops instead of for high school teachers themselves.
  "Thus the effect of our efforts in science education will be
  greatly multiplied," he said.
          According to Williams, fears are growing that
  insufficient numbers of well-educated scientists and
  engineers are going to be available to keep America's
  technical infrastructure running well.
          "Workshops such as this are very important,"
  Williams said, "because this is where participants are shown
  that careers in science are very important and rewarding."
          The ANS, using a grant from the U.S. Department of
  Energy, brought together university professors, high school
  science teachers, nuclear engineers, graduate students and
  public education specialists to prepare them to present
  workshops on their own.  While the emphasis was on nuclear
  science, the workshop dealt with other physical sciences as
  well.
          This past year, Williams has been a speaker in
  several traditional workshops, but this is his first
  experience as a teacher of workshop leaders.  He was the
  recipient of a Public Communicator of the Year Award from
  the ANS in 1998.
          Besides teaching chemistry at Hope, he teaches
  courses on "Meeting the Environmental Costs of Electrical
  Production" and the "History of the Atomic Bomb."  He has
  been a member of the Hope faculty since 1969.