Mac Hyman Heads Slate of New SIAM Officers

January 2, 2002


President-elect James (Mac) Hyman will begin a two-year term as SIAM president in January 2003.

Talk of the Society
Thomas Manteuffel and James Crowley

This issue's column is devoted to a single topic: SIAM elections.

We are pleased to report that the SIAM membership has elected the following individuals:

President: James (Mac) Hyman, Los Alamos National Laboratory

Vice President at Large: Martin Golubitsky, University of Houston

Secretary: Paul T. Boggs, Sandia National Laboratories

Board of Trustees: Margaret Cheney, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Eric Grosse, Bell Laboratories; Cleve Moler, The MathWorks

Council: Lisa J. Fauci, Tulane University; C.T. (Tim) Kelley, North Carolina State University; Randall J. LeVeque, University of Washington; William W. Symes, Rice University>

We thank all who voted for expressing their preferences. Comments and suggestions received on the ballots are now being reviewed.

We also thank all those who were willing to serve, both those who were elected and those who were not. One of the strengths of SIAM is that we have so many highly qualified individuals willing to devote their talent, time, and energy to the community.

We especially want to take this opportunity to recognize those whose terms ended with the new year: Gilbert Strang (Past President), Linda Petzold (Vice President at Large), Gregory R. Shubin (Secretary), Peter E. Castro (Board of Trustees), Francis Sullivan (Board of Trustees), Kathryn E. Brenan (Council), Eric Grosse (whose election to the Board of Trustees follows his completion of two terms on the Council), Nicholas J. Higham (Council), and Lloyd N. Trefethen (Council). While many of these people are continuing to serve the community through various SIAM activities, they deserve our gratitude for the great work they did over the past few years. On behalf of the SIAM membership---thanks!

A few comments on our election procedures (for a discussion of recent progress in voting theory, we refer interested readers to James Case's review. ): All individual SIAM members, including student members, are eligible to vote in the annual SIAM election. Each summer, the Nominating Committee---whose members include the board chair, the president, past president (or president-elect in even years), and two other members elected by the council---develops a slate of candidates for all the positions to be filled that year. Not all positions are contested in every election, although they were this year.

The SIAM Bylaws require mail ballots. A typical "turnout" for an election (i.e., ballots mailed to the SIAM office) is about 15% of the membership, and this year was no exception. At its December meeting, the SIAM board endorsed the idea of investigating electronic (Web-based) ballots for future elections. This would probably require a change in our bylaws. It is a process that other societies are beginning to use for their elections. Our intent is to make voting easier and more timely, especially for members in countries from which postal mail to the U.S. is sometimes delayed. As always, we welcome your thoughts on the proposed change ([email protected] or [email protected]).


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