The overall coordinators of POMS are:
Heidi Muchall of Concordia University, Montreal, Québec
Bob Lemieux of Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario
Bob Lemieux's statement about POMS from 2004 remains highly relevant:
We all recognize that physical organic chemistry has evolved from a traditional discipline focused on the elucidation of reaction mechanisms and the study of structure-property relationships to one that now extends far and wide, from biological to materials chemistry. Indeed, it's fair to say that many of the people who have made significant contributions in those multidisciplinary fields are physical organic chemists by training. Unfortunately, many physical organic chemistry practitioners who are active in biological or materials chemistry do not come to POMS, based in many cases on the (misguided) notion that POMS focuses primarily on traditional aspects of physical organic chemistry. Thus, I would urge all of you to spread the word that the POMS tent is a big one indeed, and encourage younger faculty in particular who apply physical organic chemistry principles to biological and/or materials chemistry to attend POMS. In order for POMS to maintain its standard of excellence as one of the premier North American physical organic chemistry meetings, we must ensure that the younger generation contributes actively to its well-being.