MRS Volunteers Contribute to Building a Professional Identity
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MRS Volunteers Contribute to Building a Professional Identity Thanks to all of you who have contributed to the activities of the Materials Research Society in its 25th year. We have again had two very exciting meetings at San Francisco and Boston, and our array of publications and other activities continue to be successful. Even with this success, in many ways this has been a year of planting seeds, and several of our new projects are already bearing fruits. One of our goals this year has been to emphasize activities which contribute to building a professional identity of MRS as a Society which we belong to throughout our careers. We have just implemented a program to encourage undergraduates to become involved in materials research (see the Call for Proposals for the Undergraduate Materials Research Initiative in this issue). Several of the MRS leaders have visited Washington, DC to express support for scientific and engineering research. We are very encouraged that our efforts contributed to the passage of a bill in the Senate to double research funding by 2010 (see MRS Bulletin, September 1998, p. 14). And in the process of bringing awareness of materials research to the general public, a task force has conceptualized and brought into reality three travelling, interactive displays. I hope you had a chance to see them at the MRS Fall Meeting in Boston.
In efforts to have a true international perspective, we have asked a group to join the Public Affairs Committee and look for ways of expanding our activities to support the advancement materials research throughout the world. Also, at the Fall meeting we joined the International Union of Materials Research Societies in presenting a forum of distinguished leaders speaking on global research perspectives of materials research. To better serve our members in new
ways we have initiated the first MRS workshops on materials topics, and to make our symposia more effective we have initiated an experiment on electronic publication of the symposia proceedings. We have also worked toward creating a welcoming environment for our members and the materials community. We have worked closely with MRS staff to put into place a new organizational structure that will be responsive and efficient. In a more tangible item, I hope you enjoyed the MRS poster to highlight accomplishments in materials research. I began this year by noting that there is "an MRS way of doing things"; namely, to involve our member volunteers in ways that use their scientific and technical expertise to all of our best advantage, and to rely on the excellent staff of MRS to help facilitate our projects. I am so very impressed by the work of everyone. While we have had the opportunity to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Materials Research Society this year, in many ways our meetings, our awards, and our other special Society activities are opportunities for us to join and celebrate the success of materials research every year. I sincerely appreciate all of your support for MRS. ROBERT J. NE
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