August 1998
Dear SMB member:
The SMB elections have now been tallied. My thanks to all candidates and congratulations to Alan Hastings, President-elect, and new board members Mark Chaplain, Sharon Lubkin, and Lisa Sattenspiel. Thanks also to retiring board members Stephen Ellner, Ray Mejia, and Robert Miura as well as Leah Edelstein-Keshet, the Past-president.
The annual meeting for the Society was held in conjunction with the SIAM annual meeting on July 13-17, 1998. More details about the meeting can be found elsewhere in the newsletter. However, a couple of impressions stand out. The attendance at all the scientific sessions was good, and at some of the sessions it was excellent with all the seats filled in a reasonable-sized room. The attendance reflects the reputation of the speakers as well as the relevance and importance of the scientific content. In addition there was good attendance at the annual meeting and poster session, which was held in the impressive new Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences on the campus of the University of Toronto. Another positive impression is that there is currently a demand for researchers who have joint expertise and interest in mathematics and biology. At the session that I organized on Employment Opportunities in Biotechnology, several of the speakers noted the difficulties that businesses have had in trying to find talented job candidates with strong interdisciplinary training. This is good news for students training in these directions.
At the board meeting and business meeting, it was agreed that the Society should form a World Outreach Committee, whose goal it will be to foster mathematical biology in developing countries, and to especially assist young scientists. Although our society is small, I am optimistic we can have a positive impact. A committee is now being formed and future newsletters will have additional details.
We also heard from Anne Guillaume, who is in charge of the Bulletin of Mathematical Biology at Academic Press. The transition of the Bulletin to Academic Press has gone smoothly. In addition the Bulletin is now available electronically. SMB members who subscribed to the electronic version should have received their password and instructions for use of the electronic version. In view of the start-up difficulties of implementing the electronic version, everyone who subscribed to the electronic version last year, will have the subscription to the electronic version extended to next year (the costs for the printed version are included in the annual dues).
All the best for the new academic year.
Sincerely,
Leon Glass
I would like to thank the SMB membership for their
show of confidence in electing me SMB President. I am looking
forward to working with Leon Glass during the next year and learning
how the organization has been run. I would also be happy to hear
from any member of SMB at
amhasting@ucdavis.edu
with ideas for future directions, suggestions, or any questions.
I hope that I will be able to continue the development of the
society and further the society as a means of intellectual exchange
and promotion of mathematical biology. During the next year I
will be formulating more detailed plans.
Sincerely,
Alan Hastings