As I write this first official letter to the Society, I am experiencing feelings of wonder and trepidation. The amazing part is that someone without a pedigree in the area of photochemistry could find himself in such a position of responsibility. The recognition of that responsibility only partly explains the anxiety, though. The other aspect is that I see Dick Caldwell as a tough act to follow. For one thing, he wrote such long letters to the Society! More to the point, I remember his dream to hold an IAPS conference in South America. Although the financial issues were anything but certain, we did it last May, and it was one of our most successful meetings ever! Dick made the gamble, but he had two aces up his sleeve by the names of Dick Weiss and Frank Quina. They proved to be great organizers who recruited some able people to help put on the meeting, and the rest is history. Thanks to one and all. Suffice it to say that we enjoyed a wonderful scientific and social program in an unforgettable venue.

Lest we forget, we all (y'all to a Mississippian?) owe David Creed a big hand as he spearheaded the effort to organize the last election. Fred Lewis and Paul Barbara have finished their terms on the Advisory Committee, while Don Arnold is back to finish out Linda Johnston's term. The new members of the Advisory Committee, Dick Weiss, Frank Quina and Lisa McElwee-White, join Ed Hilinski, Kirk Schanze and Don Arnold who have two years left on their terms. Linda Johnston is the new Vice President, and Mary Boyd is the new Secretary. Congratulations everyone.

Everyone should know that, at the Business Meeting in Iguazú Falls, we approved two initiatives to help sponsor student participation in our conferences. First, we dedicated most of the profits from the Brazil meeting to a special travel fund named after Professor Giuseppe Cilento. The intent is to use this money to make it possible for young scientists from South America to attend our annual conference. Second, we established another student travel fund yet to receive its official name. The first donation was a generous gift of $1000 from one of our new Fellows, R. Srinivasan of UVTech Associates. This fund will also support student participation. The hope is that at membership-renewal time individuals will make a voluntary contribution to the fund. To encourage contributions, the Society has pledged to match those contributions, up to a cumulative total of $1000 each year as the budget permits. Think about it. If 100 members contributed $10 - $20 each, several students could receive travel assistance.

Another point of interest is that Don Arnold is chairing a task force charged with drafting an updated Constitution for the I-APS. The other members are Linda Johnston, Dick Caldwell and Ed Hilinski. I am sure they would appreciate input from the membership at large. One issue is how to structure the Advisory Committee. Currently, there is no one from Industry on the Committee, and we may want to take steps to insure a better balance in the future.

In closing, let me encourage everyone to attend the upcoming Ninth I-APS Winter Conference in Clearwater. This promises to be an excellent meeting, and we have the priviledge of hearing lectures from the two most recent I-APS Award winners--Graham Fleming, the 1996 Awardee and Tom Meyer, the 1997 Awardee. See you in Clearwater.

David McMillin
I-APS President 1996-1998