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Modernization of manuscript submission and review procedures also came under Allan Pierce's stewardship. To improve coordination in all aspects of the publication process, he ini- tiated an effort that led to the creation of an editorial office on Cape Cod. The site was cho- sen for its proximity to his home. This change was beneficial, in that it allowed Allan to more closely monitor activity, but it lessened his sepa- ration from the job. The breadth of his dedica- tion is evidenced by the fact that when Allan re- alized that the prior warehousing arrangement for ASA publications was a large expense, he led the effort to collocate that activity with the edi- torial office.
Figure 4. Allan Pierce delivering his acceptance speech on receiving the Acoustical Society’s Gold Medal at the Vancouver ASA meeting in 2005.
Perhaps the greatest impact of Allan’s efforts for
authors was the online submission process under the Peer- Xpress system. He instigated significant modifications of the commercially available package to meet his criteria for user friendliness and relevance to the specific needs of the Jour- nal. For the associate editors, he took great pains to ensure that the system would assist in the identification of suitable reviewers and also remind them at regular intervals to ex- pedite the review process. For authors, the system made it easier to monitor the status of the review process. Remark- ably, given the effort required to develop this system for managing manuscripts, it did not deter Allan from initiating a transition to the latest system. For Allan, any possible im- provement in the Journal was worthy of his attention.
From an editorial viewpoint, Allan's main objective was to raise the quality of the Journal. The measure of his success is the extraordinary level of the papers in every issue. One of his methods to achieve this objective was to greatly enhance the number of associate editors in all areas. His notion was that highly accomplished, successful people would be reluc- tant to take on such a responsibility if it meant being inun- dated by a large number of papers to manage. Increasing the number of associate editors reduced the effort, so few indi- viduals refused when requested to serve. Once the associate editors came on board, he turned them loose. All were asked to insert themselves into the review process. That is, review- ers were to be treated as advisors, and the associate editors were decision makers. At the same time, he invited the as- sociate editors to bring him into the loop whenever a thorny issue arose. He even took on the responsibility of serving as an associate editor whenever a submitted paper fell into a
gap where no associate editor felt qualified. Is there anyone else now active in the ASA who could review a paper almost anywhere in the enormous range of areas that fall under the aegis of the Journal?
Somehow, despite his involvement in so many research projects, graduate students, teaching, and service, Allan has never neglected his family. Penny, his wife for more years than our combined number of fingers and toes, and he are constant companions at our meetings. Penny is very proud of Allan and is always glad to talk about him. Now that Al- lan has retired, they are truly enjoying the ambience of Cape Cod. (It seems to the authors that their high regard for the Cape in the winter is misplaced, especially after a strong nor'easter. However, they would say the same to us in the middle of a summer in Atlanta.) Allan and Penny have two children, Brad and Jennifer, both of whom live in a reason- ably close range of their home, and they have one grandson, Tristan. Neither Brad nor Jennifer has a career in science or engineering, but there are signs that we might see Tristan at a future ASA meeting.
If the Acoustical Society had any awards for a senior member that Allan Pierce has not received, he would be the leading candidate. He already has received the Silver Medal in Physi- cal Acoustics, the Rossing Prize for Education in Acoustics, and the Gold Medal (see Figure 4). None are left, so the best award we can think of would be if you would thank him for his contributions when you see him.
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