European Astronomical Society
e-Newsletter  5
February 2018

News from the Geneva Office

For many years Marc Türler has served the Society enthusiastically and conscientiously in a range of roles. He was Chair of the LOC for EWASS 2014 in Geneva and more recently organised the website and helped to run and record the Council meetings. Marc's versatility and commitment have contributed enormously to the growth and success that has been achieved in recent years. Marc now has a new role at the Swiss National Science Foundation where we wish him every success.

Martine Logossou-Jacot, who has been the leading administrator of the Society for many years, has decided to cut down the time she can spend on EAS business but we expect that she will remain as the Society's Financial Officer. We look forward to continuing to work with Martine in her modified role.

Last year the Society decided to seek an Executive Secretary to take on the central role in organising our activities. It took some time for the process to reach a conclusion, however, I am delighted to report that Marc Audard has accepted the position of Executive Secretary and started on 1 January 2018. Marc joins us part-time, as he spends the rest of the time as a senior researcher at the University of Geneva on the Gaia processing of variable objects. His research field is star and planet formation, with an emphasis on episodic accretion in young stars and with expertise from X-rays to radio. Marc will continue to be supported by Marie-Claude Dunand who deals with many of the issues relating to membership and subscriptions. He attended the recent Council meeting in Amsterdam - welcome to the Society, Marc!

The office has much to do as we expand our activities and the office staff are thus extremely busy. In an attempt to lift some of the administrative burden Lara Maisey, my executive assistant in Oxford, will attend Council meetings and take the record. Welcome Lara!

News from Council

The role of Secretary of the EAS Council is a crucial one in organising and directing the business of the Society. Serena Viti has carried out the responsibilities of this role with dedication and distinction since 2012. Serena has indicated to me that she wishes to stand down as Secretary from July 2018 when new Council members take up their positions.

The role of Secretary is filled for a term of four years and in July 2018 Serena will have served two years of her second term. In these circumstances the Council itself nominates a successor to serve out the remainder of the term and I am delighted to report that Emmanouil Angelakis, from Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn has agreed to take on this role. Emmanouil (Manolis) is an experienced Council member who I'm sure will guide the Society skilfully.

At the Amsterdam meeting Council adopted the recommendations of the Ethics Working group (see EAS Ethics Statement and Guidelines for Good Practice) and I am delighted to report that Coralie Neiner will be the Council member taking responsibility for this topic for the remainder of her term.

Roger Davies
EAS President