Page 10 - Winter 2010

THE PRESIDENT’S PERSPECTIVE ON SCIENTIFIC DIVERSITY IN
THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA
Whitlow W. L. Au
Acoustical Society of America Melville, New York 11747
Diversity—a popular word in
our day and time. Be it racial
diversity, biodiversity, eco-
nomic diversity, or gender diversity,
the word is commonly used in many
different contexts. In the Acoustical
Society of America (ASA) we are for-
tunate to have diversity in the scientif-
ic disciplines that are a major part of
our Society. We can loosely divide our
Society into two groups having dif-
ferent scientific backgrounds, that of
the physical sciences and that of the
life sciences. Members who have
backgrounds in engineering, physics,
and mathematics are in the physical sciences group and those with backgrounds in psychology, physiology, music, and biology are in the life sciences. The percent- ages of ASA members in each group is depicted in Fig. 1 based upon the most recent available data.
The Acoustical Society of America was formally estab- lished in 1929 and during its early years, most members were from engineering, physics, and mathematics back- grounds. Today, the society has evolved to the point that the two largest technical committees are Speech Communica-tion (SC) and Psychological and Physiological Acoustics (P&P), a reflection of our move- ment towards more diversity. This characteristic of our scientific society is good and brings strength in many ways. To use an old cliché, there is strength in numbers. This is especially true for an organization like ours. The impact of our society, the amount of services, the number of awards, the kinds of meetings, and the different types of projects that are part of the ASA, comes from having our strength in numbers. A critical mass of dedicated mem- bers is essential in order to have the type of organization that we do. Hopefully, as we grow in membership, more and better services can be provided.
Scientific diversity also brings richness to our socie- ty. I always find it satisfying when I see those in the life sciences “rubbing elbows” with those in the physical sci- ences and taking part in deep discussions on a variety of
issues affecting our country, universi- ties, and companies. It is always good to get a different perspective on things, especially if we only interact with colleagues of similar background in our work places. I also see the value of having different perspectives when addressing scientific and technical issues, especially those that cross the various boundaries. I highly recom- mend that we, as members of this rich society of ours, reach out to others in different disciplines, especially at our semi-annual meetings.
The variety of disciplines in our society is also a source of strength. There is nothing bet- ter than to know someone in a different discipline who you can approach and ask some of the most elementary questions that may be far from elementary in the disci- pline from which we come. I know I have benefited by knowing who to approach for advice and assistance. I am always gra-ciously received without having to feel inade- quate or uninformed. It is also helpful that we are able to direct colleagues to others in our society who are much better informed and have experiences that are outside our specific discipline. I know this first hand as I have had to point someone to experts in other fields. The world and our country are changing at an unprecedented rate in history and this rate of change will continue or even accelerate with time. What society deems as impor- tant and the issues that arise are continuously changing. We as part of a professional scientific society must also continuously change. Some of us may find that the kinds of work and the skills we have developed are not in strong demand any longer, which means that we have to do some mid-career adjustment and broaden our scope. Knowing individuals in different disciplines could be very helpful to the process of career adjustment and in the development of new and more cross-discipline col-
laborative efforts.
My intention in writing this article is to focus on our
scientific diversity but there are two other areas of concern
6 Acoustics Today, January 2010