[ASA] ASA Council and PASA news

[Andrew Hopkins]

Dear ASA Members,

      At our July meeting this year, the ASA Council was informed by ASA 
Vice-President Darren
Croton of his intent to resign from Council, and by Bryan Gaensler of his 
intent to step down
as Editor-in-Chief of PASA. Both indicated that they would continue to serve 
in their
roles until suitable replacements were identified, and to be available to help 
in managing
a smooth transition.

_ASA Vice-President_
With Darren's resignation from Council there was a need to identify not only a 
replacement
for the vacancy on Council but also for the role of Vice-President. In 
accordance with item
16 of the Society's Constitution, the vacancy has been filled through 
invitation by the Council.

I am pleased to announce that Assoc. Prof. Virginia Kilborn has been appointed 
to this role,
following extensive discussion with the Council and the Executive, with due 
consideration for
the responsibilities of the role, and following her acceptance of the invitation.

Virginia is a Senior Lecturer and Deputy Director in the Centre for Astrophysics
and Supercomputing at Swinburne University of Technology. In addition to her many
other accomplishments, Virginia was Acting Director at CAS for an extended 
period in the
transition between Warrick Couch's move to the AAO and Karl Glazebrook's 
appointment as Director.
The Council has strongly endorsed and unanimously supported her appointment as 
Vice-President.
In keeping with the ASA tradition of selecting the current Vice-President as 
Council's nomination for
President, Virginia will be so nominated in due course for Council elections 
in 2015. I am looking
forward to working with Virginia on the ASA Council in these roles.

I warmly thank Darren for his contributions during his time on Council and as 
Vice-President.
Darren has been a member of Council since 2011, and Vice-President since 
mid-2013. In
that time he has been instrumental in significant activity on the ANITA 
Chapter, as well
as in proposing and initiating the ECR Chapter, over and above the usual 
levels of support
provided through regular Council business.

_PASA Editor-in-Chief_
To ensure the new PASA Editor-in-Chief role was filled by someone with 
suitable experience
and a vision for the continuing success of PASA, the Society's journal, we 
initiated a
recruitment process.

I am pleased to report that the ASA Council has appointed Daniel Price, Senior 
Lecturer and
ARC Future Fellow at Monash University to the role. Daniel has been a member 
of the PASA
Editorial Board for the past four years, and will formally begin in the role 
of Editor-in-Chief
on 1 January 2015, although over the coming months he will be transitioning 
into the
role, working closely with Bryan in the lead up to Bryan's departure. I am 
looking forward
to working with Daniel in his new role with PASA and with the Council.

I heartily thank Bryan for his contributions during his time as PASA 
Editor-in-Chief over
the past 6 years. In this time Bryan has led many initiatives leading to the 
journal's
substantially increased impact factor, introduced the Dawes Review, and smoothly
managed the transition from CSIRO Publishing to Cambridge University Press.

Once again, I thank Bryan and Darren for their contributions. Please join with 
me in
welcoming Virginia and Daniel to their new roles in the Society.

Andrew Hopkins
President, ASA

-- 
A.Prof. Andrew Hopkins, Head of Research and Outreach
Australian Astronomical Observatory
P.O. Box 915, North Ryde, NSW 1670, Australia
ph: +61 2 9372 4849  fax: +61 2 9372 4880

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