AGU Leadership Transition Begins

The election is over, and now we begin AGU’s leadership transition! Newly elected leaders will take office on 1 January 2015 and about half of the current Board and Council members will rotate off. In addition, new volunteers will join AGU committees and task forces (http://sites.agu.org/leadership/committees/).

Continuing Board

On 1 January 2015, Margaret Leinen will become AGU president and will chair the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee. Carol Finn will become past president and will serve as chair of the Governance Committee.

AGU established a Board rotation strategy to ensure leadership continuity from term to term. The goal is to carry over about half of the elected positions. Those continuing for 2015–2016 will be President Leinen and Past President Finn; International Secretary Sue Webb; Board members John Bates, Cathy Constable, and Rana Fine; and Executive Director/CEO Chris McEntee. Four additional Board members will be appointed by early next year: the chair of the Development Board, the vice chair of the Council, and two at-large members.

Continuing Council

As incoming president-elect, Eric Davidson will chair the AGU Council. A new Council Leadership Team will be elected by Council members after the first of the year. Leinen and McEntee will remain as Council members to help ensure a smooth leadership transition.

Also continuing on the AGU Council will be early-career representatives Melanie Harrison Okoro and Jenny Riker, together with the current section and focus group presidents-elect, who will move up to serve as presidents:

Joseph R. Dwyer, Atmospheric and Space Electricity

William K. M. Lau, Atmospheric Sciences

Marilyn Fogel, Biogeosciences

Robin Elizabeth Bell, Cryosphere

Jim Pizzuto, Earth and Planetary Surface Processes

Kerstin Lehnert, Earth and Space Science Informatics

Geoffrey Blewitt, Geodesy

Andy Jackson, Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism

Rong Fu, Global Environmental Change

Efi Foufoula-Georgiou, Hydrology

Phil Skemer, Mineral and Rock Physics

Upmanu Lall, Natural Hazards

Frederick Day-Lewis, Near-Surface Geophysics

Andrea Donnellan, Nonlinear Geophysics

Lynne D. Talley, Ocean Sciences

William “Bill” Anderson, Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology

Linda T. Elkins-Tanton, Planetary Sciences

Greg Beroza, Seismology

Tim Cohn, Societal Impacts and Policy Sciences

David G. Sibeck, Space Physics and Aeronomy

Sabine Stanley, Study of the Earth’s Deep Interior

Anthony B. Watts, Tectonophysics

Catherine Chauvel, Volcanology, Geochemistry, and Petrology

Planning for 2015–2016 Term

AGU Board and Council members will participate in an evaluation of the 2013–2014 term before the end of this year. This evaluation will provide valuable input to the Governance Committee and staff moving forward and will help shape the orientation of new volunteers in the first quarter of 2015. Current Board, Council, committee, and task force members will be asked to help identify potential volunteers for committees and task forces in the next term.

This is a great time to be involved in AGU. Members who volunteer can make a real difference. There are many levels of volunteer opportunities for member participation—through sections and focus groups, Union-level committees and task forces, and microvolunteering. Time commitment depends on specific roles and responsibilities.

Volunteering for AGU offers members a chance to work with other leaders, develop new skills, and make a real difference. It is rewarding work to advance AGU’s mission and vision in collaboration with colleagues from around the world. Please consider joining us. If you are interested in volunteering for tasks during the 2015–2016 term, see http://volunteer.agu.org/.

—Mike McPhaden, Governance Committee Chair; email: michael.j.mcphaden@noaa.gov

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