Reflections on 1992 MRS Activities

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Reflections on 1992 MRS Activities It hardly seems possible that the time has come for me to write a message for the MRS Bulletin as outgoing 1992 MRS President. Since the deadline for this December issue is mid-October, I am writing this only about three-fourths of the way through my one-year term. Nevertheless, now is a good opportunity for me to reflect on the activities of the last nine months, my expectations for the next three months, and the rewards and burdens of the MRS Presidency. As the seventeenth MRS president, I have benefitted from the prior contributions of many, many people. Also I have benefitted from the talents and hard work of the other four members of the current MRS Executive Committee. Under MRS Executive Director John Ballance's leadership, the MRS headquarters staff has become a major league team for assisting volunteers in running first-class meetings, in publishing outstanding periodicals and proceedings volumes, in managing the financial affairs of the Society, and in providing many other kinds of support and services for members, volunteers, and corporate affiliates of the MRS. Even with the excellence and dedication of the MRS headquarters staff, volunteers remain the heart of the Materials Research Society. Their contributions are apparent in the excellence of our meetings, thanks to the efforts of meeting chairs, symposium chairs, and program committee members. Other MRS committees are essential to the success of our awards program, our publications, and our continuing education activities. Less visible to most members, but equally important, are committees for academic affairs and university chapters, corporate participation, public relations and publicity, membership, long range planning, and external affairs. During 1992,1 have had several opportunities to represent the MRS on issues critically important to the materials research community. As MRS President, I prepared a statement in support of the Advanced Materials and Processing Program. This statement, published in the March 1992 issue of the MRS Bulletin, was sent to key members of Congress and to presidents of other professional societies concerned with materials science and engineering, urging support for federal funding of the AMPP initiative. In July, I spoke on behalf of the MRS to the Panel on the Nation's Research Universities of the President's Council of Advisors

neering are critical to U.S. economic wellbeing and industrial competitiveness. We urged that NSF maintain its role as the premier supporter of research and education for science and engineering in the nation's universities, but that, if additional funding is available to fulfill this mission adequately and to expand NSF's efforts for strengthening links between academic science and industry, NSF should participate, together with other federal agencies, in fulfilling this additional important mission. In each of these cases, statements were developed jointly by Jim Roberto, Tom Picraux, and me, with input from the leadership of the MRS External Affairs Com

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