Spring 2023 Message from the President

Dear Colleagues,

The AAAR year got off to a busy start with the virtual Board of Directors meeting in January. The main topic was to discuss and approve the annual budget. The good news is that we are in good financial shape and can continue to fund strategic projects to keep our members engaged and to expand our reach. We will continue to fund travel awards for international students and professionals in order to attract international attendees who might not otherwise be able to attend the conference. The always fun particle fine art competition will continue. New strategic projects include travel support for the social media ambassadors and investing a small amount each year in our quasi-endowment funds to bring them up to the amount of a true endowment fund. Please see the article on the endowment funds for more details.

In conference news, Andy Grieshop, the 2023 Conference Chair is putting together an excellent program for Portland. See the Conference Update for more details. The call for abstracts has now closed. The prospectus for sponsors and exhibitors is ready and has been posted on the conference website (https://www.aaar.org/2023/exhibits-and-sponsorship/). If you know of any potential new exhibitors or sponsors, please share the prospectus with them and/or have them contact Faye McNeill, Vice President and Chair of the Development Committee (vfm2103@columbia.edu). First-time exhibitors get a 25% discount on the booth fee.

After Portland, we are looking forward to the 2024 conference in Albuquerque, NM, the week of October 21-25.

Do you want to be more involved in AAAR? There are multiple ways to participate, such as by serving on a committee, helping to organize the conference, serving on the Board of Directors or nominating deserving individuals for awards. The full list of committees and what they do is in the Policies and Procedures document posted on the AAAR website (https://www.aaar.org/about-aaar/policies/). If you are interested in serving on one, please contact Faye McNeill, Vice President (vfm2103@columbia.edu). The working group chairs and vice-chairs organize the technical content for the conference while the Board of Directors deals with the business aspects of the association. The call for nominations for Working Group Vice Chairs and for the Board of Directors has closed for this year, but we welcome suggestions for next year. Feel free to contact me at williams@aerodyne.com if you are interested. Finally, nominations for awards (https://www.aaar.org/awards/annual-awards/) and AAAR Fellows (https://www.aaar.org/aaar-fellows/fellows-nomination-process/) are due June 1, 2023. We need your help to identify good candidates.

I hope your spring is off to a good start. I’m happy to see the first daffodils coming up in my garden and I’m looking forward to seeing you in October in Portland.

Leah Williams

President, AAAR Board of Directors