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6 Computer T here is an old phrase that says, “May you live in inter- esting times.” This saying is often interpreted as a curse because “interesting” can imply a wide variety of situations. I can confidently say that 2007 has been “interesting” in almost every sense of the word. A NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR One major event this year was the search for a new executive director of the Computer Society. The search was open, in the sense that there was no obvious candidate. Many extremely well-qualified individuals applied, and reducing the list to manageable proportions was a difficult task for the search committee. The candidates represented diverse areas, including academic, industrial, and nonprofit institutions. Although I have been involved in searching for senior leadership and administrative people in the past, I have seldom seen a more impressive list of individuals than those we chose to interview. After several interviews, we finally met over a hol- iday weekend to spend both formal and informal time with the top three candidates. They each brought a dif- ferent set of strengths to the position and each would have made a fine executive director. After much debate, we chose Angela Burgess for the job, and she assumed her duties shortly thereafter. Those of you who have met Angela will, I am sure, think that the search committee did a great job in arriving at this deci- sion. I am confident that this will be a major step forward in the Society’s history, and Angela’s abilities will be welcomed for many years to come. A BUILDING CRISIS With every good “interesting” development, there is often a counter- part. One of the worst this year was the result of trying to be good citizens within the IEEE. Our staff reorganization (about which, more later) left us with some excess space in our Washington, DC, headquarters building. The building is well over 100 years old and is a heritage-listed structure in the mid- dle of Embassy Row in DC. Another IEEE organization was headquar- tered in Washington, and it seemed to make eminent sense to agree to a proposal that we share office space in our building. Since this would require some ren- ovations, we called in engineers and architects to advise us—no sense try- ing to remove a support wall or some- thing equally devastating. When the reports came back, we were surprised to learn that the building infrastruc- ture—electricity, plumbing, heating, and so on—not only could not accom- modate the proposed renovations, but was outdated enough to pose poten- tial safety risks. We immediately moved our staff out until we could determine the best course of action to remedy the problems. As I write this message, a second group of engineers is studying the situ- ation, so I can’t give you any definite word on the final outcome. While we would all like instant answers in such situations, doing the job properly takes time. I hope that we can have definitive plans and cost estimates in hand by the time you actually read this. I would like to thank our sister IEEE organization, IEEE-USA, for provid- ing us emergency office accommoda- tions until we sort out this mess. They’ve been extremely helpful and, despite this disruption to their own office functions, have been more than welcoming to our employees. REORGANIZING THE SOCIETY My presidential message at the start of 2007 indicated that this would be a year of decision regarding our organi- zation. I am pleased to say that much of the staff and volunteer reorganiza- tion has begun, and I am sure this will result in a more effective organization in the future. Like any major change, the complete plan for reorganizing our Society will take time and will likely be an ongoing effort for several years. Angela Burgess, our new executive director, has been instrumental in implementing the myriad details of such things as rewriting position descriptions and recruiting staff to fill the new vacancies. It is not only the staff that is being reorganized, but also the volunteer side of the organization. While it might be simple to say that combin- ing the Technical Activities Board and the Conferences and Tutorials Board will result in greater synergy in both areas, it is something else to actually plan for a smooth transition, rewrite the governing bylaws, establish new modes of working, and try to foresee potential pitfalls. I would like to An Interesting Year Michael R. Williams IEEE Computer Society 2007 President The Society’s 2007 president reflects on a year of challenges and accomplishments.
