CANAL FULTON: One of the last things you might expect to see the president of a scientific research organization wearing is a clerical collar.But it’s a natural fit for the Rev. Thomas S. Acker, administrator at SS Philip & James Roman Catholic Church in Canal Fulton.“Evolution is one of the greatest forces that God put in motion. He dropped the seeds and let the seeds do their thing,” said Acker, who is also a biologist. “Science and religion are not enemies but partners. Both science and religion have a similar purpose: to serve others is the call of science and religion. But I’m not going to bring religion to Sigma Xi. My job is to restore Sigma Xi to vibrancy.”Acker, 82, was elected in mid-December to lead Sigma Xi — the international honor society of research scientists, engineers and technicians — during the organization’s first open electronic vote by its general membership. (In the past, only delegates have voted). He will join the nonprofit’s board in July as president-elect designate and take his post as president July 1, 2013.“The way it works is you sit on the board for three years, as the president-elect, then as the president and then as immediate past president,” Acker said. “You can’t turn an organization around in one year. So the way I see it is that all three leaders will need to come together and settle on a course of action to get Sigma Xi back on track.”Sigma Xi was founded in 1886 at Cornell University and is celebrating its 125th anniversary. It boasts more than 50,000 members, who are elected to the society based on their research achievements. More than 200 of its members have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and are commemorated in the Hall of Honor at the Sigma Xi Center in Research Triangle Park, N.C., near Raleigh-Durham International Airport.Although the organization claims more than 500 chapters throughout the world at colleges and universities, industrial research centers and government laboratories, only about half of those chapters are active. Of the 22 chapters in Ohio, only seven are active, including those at Ohio State, Case Western Reserve, Miami and Youngstown State. Those at the University of Akron and Kent State are among the 15 inactive chapters.Joseph Whittaker, the immediate past president of Sigma Xi, said he believes Acker has the experience and leadership ability to move the organization forward. Whittaker is the dean of the School of Computer, Mathematics and Natural Sciences at Morgan State University in Baltimore.“During my tenure, one of the goals has been to transform the organization with more involvement from our membership, especially our younger members, because we see a need for an infusion of new ideas and vision for the future,” Whittaker said. “We have had some success and want to continue going in that direction.”Like Acker, Whittaker said he does not believe science and religion are mutually exclusive.Decades of leadershipAcker, a Rocky River native, is a Jesuit priest and president emeritus of Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia, where he spent 18 years as president. In addition to serving as administrator of the Canal Fulton church, he is the assistant to the bishop for special projects in the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown.He is also president of the Greenbrier Valley Chapter of Sigma Xi in West Virginia and recently served as chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the Higher Education Foundation in Beckley, W.Va.Acker has a track record of revitalizing struggling organizations. In the past 40 years, he has raised more than $250 million in federal and private funding to help challenged organizations and regions flourish.He spent two years in Nepal as a Fulbright professor revamping the biology education program for the country. He earned his undergraduate degree in classical languages at Loyola University in Chicago and his doctorate in biology at Stanford University, where he was inducted into Sigma Xi in 1959.Ordained a priest in 1963, Acker describes his calling as one of helping in environments of need and struggle. He noted his success in recasting the higher education biology curriculum in Nepal and persuading professors to embrace the improved program that was developed.When he arrived to take the helm at Wheeling Jesuit — amid plummeting enrollment, decaying buildings and a deficit budget — the university community thought he was there to close it. But during his 18-year tenure, enrollment climbed to the highest level in the university’s history, eight buildings were replaced, budgets were in the black for 17 years and an $18 million endowment was secured.Acker left the university in 2000, and at the request of late U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, he relocated to southern West Virginia — one of the poorest financial and educational regions of the country — to become CEO of Forward Southern West Virginia (while doubling as chairman and CEO of the Higher Education Foundation).In that capacity, he spearheaded the construction of a new public higher education campus and persuaded four public college presidents to work there and helped to obtain $30 million in grants to build a health clinic in rural West Virginia and a transportation center in Beckley.New challengeAcker said that in his new leadership role with Sigma Xi, he hopes to help the organization redefine itself by finding its niche. He said he hopes to grow its membership and strengthen its finances.Sigma Xi publishes the bimonthly magazine, American Scientist, which traces its roots to 1913. The organization has invested in the future of science since 1922 by awarding research grants to nearly 30,000 graduate and undergraduate students.It also has sponsored an annual lecture program for more than six decades to offer insight into science and technology. In an effort to improve public understanding of science, Sigma Xi offers a free, daily email bulletin called “Science in the News” that highlights science and technology stories from mainstream media sources.“It is important for Sigma Xi to prosper because we have something to contribute to make the world better,” Acker said. “Leading the organization is not something I desired, but it seems that God spoke through a lot of people who voted for me, so I’ve got to serve. I’m still young at 82, and I go wherever I’m needed.”More information about Sigma Xi can be found at www.sigmaxi.org.Colette Jenkins can be reached at 330-996-3731 or cjenkins@thebeaconjournal.com