by Ed Dolly, Chairman
How
quickly a year passes! It's been my pleasure, challenges and all,
to serve as your Chairman. I've had the support and assistance
of a tremendous team comprised of officers, committee chairs,
and committee members. I also had the privilege of chairing an
annual meeting for which you, the Delegates, had done your homework;
you came to the meeting prepared to make decisions on the issues,
having given prior consideration to the merits of each. Because
of your advance preparation, we were able to conduct the business
at hand in record time.
The
annual business meeting was held on March 10, 2002 in Houston
with 207 delegates in attendance. A summary of the meeting follows.
All
Bylaws amendments presented by the Constitution and Bylaws Committee
were passed. They include the COCBAP 2 amendment formalizing the
mechanism through which the three governing bodies of AAPG, the
EC, AC and HoD, obtain comments from each other on Bylaws amendments
affecting any one of them; the EC super-majority amendment requiring
the Executive Committee to have five affirmative votes (a super-majority)
to either reject or change the rank order of any officer candidates
presented by the Advisory Council; and the emeritus membership
amendment reducing the required years of AAPG membership for emeritus
status from 35 to 30.
The
Rules and Procedures Committee proposed six changes to HoD operating
rules and procedures. All were passed. They include adding the
Executive Director's report immediately after the President's
report in the order of business at annual meetings; creation of
a House Recognition of Service award to be presented annually
to the Chairman and the Secretary/Editor at the end of their terms
of office; a change in the order of awards to order of importance,
listing first, Honorary Member of the House, followed by Distinguished
Member of the House, House Long Service and House Recognition
of Service awards, in that order; the stipulation that no candidate
for an HoD office may be nominated for an HoD award in the same
year and formation of a new standing committee, the Minutes Approval
Committee, to review and approve the minutes of the annual meeting
within 60 days following the meeting.
Applications
for AAPG affiliation from the Scientific Council for Petroleum
of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts and the Association
of Geologists of Ukraine were presented by the Resolutions Committee.
The Delegates approved both. An application for associated society
status from the Geological Society of America was also approved.
The Resolutions Committee reported on societies currently under-represented
or having no delegate representation in the HoD. Those deficiencies
in representation have been, or are being, corrected by the individual
societies.
The
Honors and Awards Committee presented the following recipients
of House awards: Will Green, Honorary Member of the House; Jean
Lemmon and Tom Mairs, Distinguished Member of the House; Patrick
Daugherty, Long Service Award and Ed Dolly, Certificate of Merit.
The
Credentials Committee gave a detailed report on what constitutes
a quorum at House of Delegates' meetings.The Future of Earth Scientists
Committee presented the results of a study addressing the future
of petroleum geoscientists to the year 2020. Using projections
of world petroleum production by Jack Edwards and membership demographics
for AAPG and SEG, the report predicted that in the U.S., 200-400
petroleum geoscientists will be needed per year and 2,000-3,500
will be needed worldwide each year for the next 20 years. Because
worldwide petroleum production in 2060 will be approximately what
it is now, the need for petroleum geoscientists will last at least
40 years in the U.S. and more than 60 years worldwide, or longer
than a career length for current geoscience students.
Under
New Business, a motion was made to make the new House Recognition
of Service Award to the Secretary/Editor retroactive beginning
with the 1996-1997 year. The motion carried.
The
Nomination and Election Committee selected candidates for officers
to work with next year's Chairman, Terry Hollrah. George Eynon
and Lee Avary were elected Chairman-Elect and Secretary/Editor,
respectively. The three of them will officially assume their duties
on July 1, 2002. Unofficially, they are already making plans and
organizing committees for the year ahead.
In closing
my final Chairman's Corner, I'd like to say thank you. Thank you,
Terry Hollrah, my Chairman-Elect, for helping me whenever I asked.
Thank you, Marty Hewitt, for the outstanding job you've done in
publishing The Delegates' Voice. Thank you to all my dedicated,
hard working committee chairs and committee members for the tasks
you accomplished. Thank you, Donna Riggs, for your guidance and
assistance every step of the way. And finally, thank you, the
Delegates, for your support throughout the year and for coming
to the annual meeting informed and prepared. It's been an honor
and a privilege serving as your Chairman.
JUNE 2002
