Report of the President
for the Year ending June 30, 2004
It was indeed my pleasure to serve as the Society's President for the year ending 30 June 2004 as Sigma Xi experienced a number of significant events during this time. In this report I will outline only a few of those significant events, as others will be found in the Report of the Executive Director.
Certainly one of the highlights of the past year was the opening of the Sigma Xi Center in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. As you may be aware, Sigma Xi had envisioned constructing new administrative offices in RTP since it moved to North Carolina in 1990. However, it wasn't until late 2002 that the opportunity to build a new building in the Park presented itself with a new, dynamic Executive Director in Dr. Patrick Sculley, interest rates at an all time low, and construction costs also at record lows. Thus, in November 2002, the Society's Board of Directors agreed to go ahead with a plan to build a new home for the Society's administrative offices. Dr. Sculley assembled an outstanding team to undertake the construction of the new facility that included architects, builders, bankers, and engaged Mr. Robert ("Robb") Teer of RTP to be the contractor for the building. Construction began in early March 2003.
Thus, as I assumed the Presidency of Sigma Xi on 1 July 2003 the building was already underway with the steel columns rising and the building beginning to take shape. Throughout the summer and fall of 2003, Dr. Sculley kept me and the Board of Directors appraised of the progress on the building through frequent emails and photographs that were placed on the Society's Web site (www.sigmaxi.org). Through extraordinary teamwork, the building was completed and occupied on 1 December 2003 by the Society's administrative staff; i.e., Sigma Xi had built and furnished a 54,000 sq. ft. building in only 9 months! This is indeed an accomplishment of which the Society should be enormously proud and is a tribute to the vision and leadership of Dr. Sculley and the entire building team.
On 23 April 2004, the Sigma Xi Center held its Grand Opening for friends and members, and for the entire North Carolina community. During this afternoon celebration, it was my pleasure to accept the building on behalf of the Society's entire membership. In addition to its wonderful architecture, the Center has two outstanding features: First, ample meeting space, both large and small, that provides facilities for Sigma Xi-convened meetings and for other organizations who share the Society's mission. Secondly, the Hall of Honor is a wonderful tribute to the 199 Nobel Laureates who are Sigma Xi members. I do hope that every member of Sigma Xi will have the opportunity to visit the Sigma Xi Center, as it is a tribute to the tradition and future of the Society.
In addition to the Center, the Sigma Xi November 2003 forum, Science & Engineering: Keys to International Understanding, was another highlight for the Society during the past year. Held at the Hyatt Regency at Macy's Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, the 2003 forum was funded by Sigma Xi and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Through plenary and concurrent sessions, the forum, coupled with related activities and publications, served as the culmination of Sigma Xi's Packard International Science Networking Initiative and the bridge to the Society's future international programs with a focus on the role of scientific and engineering communication and collaboration as an enabler for international understanding.
For the November 2003 forum, Sigma Xi benefited from the assistance of a distinguished group of individuals and organizations from throughout the world in planning the event, and a host of international groups that contributed to the forum. Throughout the day and a half forum, participants were treated to a wide variety of international speakers who provided eloquent and thoughtful insights into various aspects of international cooperation and sterling examples of how international cooperation can achieve meaningful results for humankind. It was my pleasure to preside over the November 2003 forum as President of Sigma Xi. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Sigma Xi staff, the participants, and the Society's leadership for their roles in making the forum so successful. In particular, I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Christine Piggee, Sigma Xi's Manager of International Programs, for her role in planning and coordinating the November 2003 forum.
Almost concurrently with the November 2003 forum, Sigma Xi began initial negotiations with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs on a possible cooperative project between the two organizations that would provide high visibility for the Society in the international community. During the first half of 2004, these negotiations have borne fruit and Sigma Xi has agreed, depending on available funding, to provide administrative and logistical support to a Scientific Expert Group (SEG) of 15-20 international scientists who are experts in global climate change. An Advisory Council of 5 prominent environmental researchers already has been convened by Sigma Xi and will provide advice and guidance to the project.
Through a series of three meetings in 2004 and 2005, the SEG will provide the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development with clear and concise scientifically based recommendations concerning the range of options that are available to respond to the anticipated negative impacts of global climate change. This project will provide manageable options in order to give the leaders of the world well researched tools with which to negotiate global environmental policy in 2007. The near term objective of this project is to produce a small number of highly effective recommendations that governments and industries can adopt to stop climate change and to protect their countries and economies from the expected detrimental effects of these global
changes. Built on a foundation of current scientific information, the work of this project will be focused on identifying practical and feasible actions suitable to a wide range of economic and geographical environments. The recommendations will include both mitigation and adaptation solutions that are technically effective as well as economically and politically manageable. Notably, the scientific experts will also address the appropriate sequence and timing for the effective introduction of the recommended actions. The report will be presented to the United Nations in December 2005.
Sigma Xi is proud to have been invited to participate in this project. The Society is uniquely positioned to partner with the UN and manage this project. As the international, interdisciplinary honor society for scientific and engineering researchers, the Society is an apolitical, interdisciplinary, organization whose members are organized into a network of more than 500 chapters based and universities, government research facilities and industrial research sites. Not only do our members come from different fields of research, but they also live in approximately 100 different countries. As a grass-roots organization, Sigma Xi has many tools and an effective network for disseminating information to both the scientific community and to the scientifically curious among the general public. The Society's award-winning magazine, American Scientist, advanced electronic communications systems and attractive Web site are used to disseminate information and programs to the research community around the world. Finally, Sigma Xi has experience not only in administering large and/or international grants, but also in organizing and convening international meetings. This project provides a wonderful opportunity for Sigma Xi to contribute to an internationally important project and I am proud to be part of that effort.
In this report I have outlined only three of the many outstanding projects of Sigma Xi that have taken place in the year ending 30 June 2004. Dr. Patrick Sculley, in his Report of the Executive Director, has outlined many more. The past year in Sigma Xi has indeed been one in which the groundwork has been laid for Sigma Xi's exciting future and I have been honored to have played some small role in that effort. I would also like to thank Dr. Sculley and the Sigma Xi staff, the Society's leadership and members, all of whom have made my term as President of Sigma Xi so enjoyable and rewarding. I look forward to the promising future of the Society that begins with my successor Dr. Francisco Ayala.
Peter H. Raven
President 2003-2004
Back to top | Privacy Policy | Copyright ©2013. All Rights Reserved.
