The Southeast Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society will be held in Knoxville, Tenn., October 17 - 20. A variety of topics will be covered, from environmental to medicinal chemistry. Professor Richard Zare of Stanford University will present a lecture, "What can chemists tell us about the origins of life?" at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, October 17. Representatives from the Department of Energy, National Institute of Standards and Technology, National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health will participate in a roundtable discussion on "Science for the New Millenium" on Tuesday, October 19 at 7:30 p.m. More than 600 papers will be presented at the meeting, which is expected to draw 900 scientists.

Who: Sponsored by the East Tennessee Section of the American Chemical Society

What: 51st Southeast Regional Meeting

When: Sunday, October 17, through Wednesday, October 20

Where: Hyatt Regency Hotel, Knoxville, Tenn.

News media are welcome to attend the meeting. Please see the 51st Southeast Regional Meeting website ( http://www.sermacs99.org ) or call Hillarie Fogel at 202-872-4371 for more information.

A nonprofit organization with a membership of nearly 159,000 chemists and chemical engineers, the American Chemical Society publishes scientific journals and databases, convenes major research conferences, and provides educational, science policy and career programs in chemistry. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio. (http://www.acs.org )