Members have an opportunity to nominate Society officers

The cadre of ASME members who serve the Society as officers have an enormous responsibility. They represent ASME around the world, establish a vision for the Society's future, and manage both ASME's strategic direction and its members' activities. These are big jobs. They are usually filled through the work of the Nominating Committee (NC).

The NC first works to attract the most qualified and committed ASME members as candidates. From these candidates, the NC recommends the best to the membership for Society offices through the proxy ballot that is distributed each fall.

The NC is made up of ASME members who represent the organization's various units. It meets twice a year: organizing and planning at the Congress, then choosing the nominees to be recommended to the membership at the Summer Annual Meeting (SAM).

ASME members also have the option of organizing a special nominating committee to propose additional nominees. If they want to do so, at least one percent of the corporate members must notify the executive director of this intention. If such a committee is formed, the names it proposes will also appear on the proxy. The names of any nominees selected by a special nominating committee must be submitted to the executive director's office by Aug. 6.

This year, the NC must recommend 17 of ASME's finest for leadership positions. Of those, 13 will be vice presidents. Nominees for the following positions are needed: president for a 2003-2004 term; three members of the Board of Governors who will serve a 2003-2006 term; and 13 vice presidents who will serve from 2003-2006 in Region I, Region VII, Region IX, Region XI, Region XIII, Conformity Assessment, Engineering Education, Engineering and Technology Management, Environment and Transportation, Government Relations, International Gas Turbine Institute, Member Interests and Development, and Safety Codes and Standards.

The NC asks that every member of ASME International help identify at least two candidates for each leadership position. Candidates should inform the NC of their intention to run for office by March 15. A candidate's final nomination package must be submitted by April 15 (this date may change to April 1). The NC will meet at SAM in June to evaluate the candidates and recommend nominees.

The evaluation process is a thorough one in which the NC reviews the candidates' written material, interviews them, and listens to the candidates' supporters. The preliminary schedule for the NC meeting at SAM 2002 is: Candidates and their supporters for the regional vice president's office will appear on the morning of June 10; candidates and their supporters for the other vice presidents will appear in the afternoon and will carry over to the morning and afternoon of June 11; candidates and their supporters for the Board of Governors offices will also appear on the afternoon of June 11. Candidates and their supporters for the office of president will appear on the morning of June 12.

The NC meeting is a busy one, which requires careful scheduling of the proposed nominees and their supporters by the chair of the Interview Scheduling Subcommittee, as well as hard work by the chair to follow the schedule established. There are also restrictions covering supporters. An individual may support only one candidate for any office (e.g., president, governor and each vice president), whether by appearing before the NC or by providing a letter of support.

Each individual is limited to a maximum of three appearances as a supporter. NC members, alternates, advisors and consultants cannot appear or provide letters of support for candidates.

The 2001 nomination package is available at www.asme.org/honors and can be used as a guide for developing the 2002 package. The 2002 nomination package will be available in January 2002.

For more information about procedures or for a candidate package, please contact: Kent S. Lloyd, Jr., chair, 2002 Nominating Committee, (502) 636-0363, kelloyd@attglobal.net; Rita M. Patterson, secretary, 2002 Nominating Committee, (409) 772-9071, rita.patterson@utmb.edu; Gilda Di-Tullio, ASME staff, (212) 591-7736, ditulliog@asme.org.

back to news & features