CEO Ellis Rubinstein described a promising future for the Academy - in terms of membership, programs, and finances-to a capacity audience of members gathered in the Academy's hallowed halls for the 185th Annual Business Meeting of the organization.
Giving what he called a "mini-tour" of the past, present, and future of the Academy, Rubinstein outlined plans to increase membership through such new efforts as the Science Alliance for Graduate Students and Postdocs, the Global Science Leaders of Tomorrow Program, and the Frontiers of Science Program, as well as through new membership policies and practices in regards to meetings and conferences. He projected the new programs and policies would bring in more than 8,000 new members in the coming year and help the Academy return its membership rolls to over 29,000 worldwide members, even considering typical attrition rates.
The Academy President also presented an overview of his plans to increase revenue through grants, corporate sponsorships, and individual support. He noted that, with only three months since the beginning of the fiscal year, development support has already reached more than $1.2 million out of a goal of $1.7 million for the year.
"These are extremely conservative revenue assumptions but still provide adequate resources for new programs," Mr. Rubinstein said.
New Board Introduced
In other Annual Meeting business, Board of Governors Chairman Torsten Wiesel introduced the newly elected member of the Board, including four joining the Board for the first time:
Peter B. Corr, senior vice president, Science and Technology, Pfizer Inc., where he is the head of worldwide research and development and is also responsible for worldwide licensing, and science policy. His research has focused on the biochemical membrane mechanisms contributing to arrhythmogenesis, with particular emphasis on ischemic heart disease, sudden cardiac death and other abnormal cardiac rhythms.
Wendy Evans Joseph, president of Wendy Evans Joseph Architecture, the architectural and planning practice she founded in 1996. She was the 2001 winner of the National Entrepreneurial Award for a sole proprietor given by Working Woman magazine and was honored in 2002 for her work and her contribution to the community by the American Woman's Economic Development Committee.
Robert W. Lucky, an engineer known worldwide for his writing and speaking about technology and society. He has led premier research laboratories in telecommunications over the last several decades, first at Bell Labs and then at Telcordia Technologies. Most engineers know him best through the monthly columns he has written for Spectrum Magazine over the last twenty years, offering philosophical and sometimes humorous observations on engineering, life, and technology.
David D. Sabatini, the Frederick L. Ehrman Professor and chairman of the Department of Cell Biology at New York University. He is a cell biologist who uses the combined tools of biochemistry and fine structural analysis in attempting to understand functional and biogenetic relationships between subcellular organelles. Much of Dr. Sabatini's recent research has dealt with the biogenesis of the plasma membrane and, in particular, the processes that account for the generation and maintenance of functionally and structurally distinct surface domains in polarized epithelial cells.
Dr. Wiesel also introduced two members reelected to three-year terms:
Karen E. Burke, a dermatologist and research scientist in private practice in New York City, who also serves as an attending physician in the Department of Medicine, Cabrini Medical Center. Dr. Burke, who was reelected to a three-year term, is known for her research on the prevention and reversal of aging of the skin as well the prevention and treatment of skin cancer. Her primary research demonstrates the efficacy of topical and oral antioxidants in reversing photo-aging of the skin and in prevention of skin cancer.
John F. Niblack, the retired vice chairman of the Board of Directors of Pfizer, Inc., and president, Pfizer Global Research and Development. As president of Pfizer's Global Research and Development division, and its principal scientific officer, Dr. Niblack managed the largest pharmaceutical research force in the world. He was reelected to a three-year term on the Academy Board.
Elected vice chairman of the Board was Gerald D. Fischbach, the executive vice president for Health and Biomedical Sciences, dean of the Faculties of Health Sciences and dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University. Throughout his career, Dr. Fischbach has studied the formation and maintenance of synapses, the junctions between nerve cells and their targets through which information is transferred. His current focus is on trophic factors that influence synaptic efficacy and nerve cell survival.
Dr. Fischbach served last year as a Board member.
Dr. Wiesel, the Nobel Laureate who is president emeritus of The Rockefeller University, was also reelected to another term as Board chair.
Joseph Birman, distinguished professor of Physics at the City College of New York and chair of the Academy's Human Rights Committee, presented the 2003 Heinz R. Pagels Human Rights of Scientists Award to Saad Eddin Ibrahim, professor in the Department of Sociology at the American University in Cairo and director and chairman of the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies. Prof. Ibrahim, who holds dual U.S. - Egyptian citizenship, has a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Washington and has taught at a number of universities in the United States. He has written and published extensively, including some 30 books in English and Arabic.
Recognized by colleagues in the scientific community as a man of integrity and scholarly distinction, he has long been a supporter of human rights in Egypt and a model for scientists in other Arab countries. Prof. Ibrahim was arrested in June 2000 for his outspoken advocacy and charged with "disseminating false information harmful to Egypt," among a number of other accusations. These charges were widely criticized by international human rights groups, including the New York Academy of Sciences, as being unjust and politically motivated. He was tried three times on the same charges, with two of his convictions overturned on appeal; he was eventually acquitted in March, 2003.
Prof. Ibrahim was honored by the Academy for his "commitment to justice, human rights, and democratic values in Egypt." In a written statement read by Prof. Birman, Dr. Ibrahim said that "learning about the NYAS award lifted up my spirit. My hope for freedom was renewed. My faith that the best of the best of the worldwide community of scholars do not forget a comrade at risk strengthened my faith that the cause for which I was incarcerated will ultimately triumph." He also expressed the hope that "you will continue to support the cause not only of academic freedom but also that of democracy in our troubled part of the world, the Middle East. I firmly believe that by so doing you will be helping also the cause of peace, justice and development."
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