Almost 500,000 individuals get advanced training in science and engineering in the United States each year at institutions of higher education, national laboratories, and industry. For more than half a century, steady financial support for research and education in the chemical sciences has given us high-quality graduate programs that attract talent from around the world. But are the current practices of training the next generation of scientists working -- for the students and for society? This symposium features members of a blue-ribbon commission convened by the American Chemical Society (ACS) to consider this issue. Members conducted “listening sessions” to obtain feedback from students, early-career faculty, underrepresented groups, business groups, and many other stakeholders. The commission developed actionable recommendations that can be adopted or adapted by graduate educational institutions, federal and state funding agencies, and business and industry. The proposals include radical changes to foster graduate education to better use the nation’s vast educational, industrial, and government resources to successfully prepare students for their own professional careers and to meet society-wide human needs over the next 50 years. Speakers will discuss their recommendations for graduate education reform and the challenges that lay ahead.