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From the President | Judy R. Dubno
Preparing a President’s column is a good time to look back at ASA’s past and envision its fu- ture. With 75 former ASA Presi- dents, http://goo.gl/cakgED, there are several decades of President’s
reports and columns available to review, many of which are contained within JASA’s rich archives. Reading these reports opens a window on ASA’s history and traditions, as evi- denced by what has been sustained over the decades – the creative and collegial environment at ASA meetings, orga- nization of technical programs, presentation of awards and prizes to distinguished acousticians, awarding of fellowships and scholarships to promising students and early career ac- ousticians, high-quality journals and standards programs, and the extraordinary contributions of dedicated ASA staff and member volunteers.
What has changed is size, in numbers of members, meet- ing abstracts and attendance, and journal pages. Of course, technical advances and new innovations continue to trans- form the science of acoustics and its practical applications, and the use of technology has changed the way the Society does business – one previous President’s report mentioned the importance of daily use of fax machines and the intro- duction of “PINET” to distribute electronic abstracts.
An extraordinary example of envisioning the future in a President’s report is contained within President Robert E. Apfel’s “Presidential address: Acoustical Society of America – 2016,” which was given at a previous ASA meeting in In- dianapolis in 1996 (see Journal of Acoustical Society of Amer- ica 100, 1947-1948, 1996 or http://wp.me/p4zu0b-Np to view Apfel's Presidential address). President Apfel presented his vision of ASA 20 years into the future in light of the “infor- mation-internet revolution.” As we approach nearly 20 years since that address, I encourage you to read this remarkable report, and admire the accuracy of his predictions. Just one example: “...in the year 2016, you can go to your computer and call up any article you want. It will contain not only text and graphics, but color images, video, sound, of course, and data, in the form of spreadsheets and computer programs. It will permit automatic links to other articles, and you will probably be able to send a message to the author directly
from the midst of his or her article. Quite a vision!” Yes, that was indeed quite a vision by President Apfel.
Today, ASA continues to change and evolve within the on- going information-internet revolution – many activities and discussions on this topic took place at Executive and Tech- nical Council and other meetings at the most-recent ASA meeting in Indianapolis. A Reddit “Ask Me Anything” live discussion on animal bioacoustics, organized by Acoustics Today Intern and postdoctoral fellow Laura Kloepper, fea- tured six prominent scientists answering questions from some of the 5,000 followers listening in – answers includ- ed links to articles in JASA and Acoustics Today. Twitter transmitted information about the 168th ASA meeting (@ ASA168). Live webcasts were conducted featuring meet- ing presenters discussing New Discoveries in Acoustics and The Science of Spooky Sounds (a Halloween-themed session). Around committee meeting tables, lively discus- sions focused on best practices for the Society using social media and social science networks. New procedures are being tested for online organization of meeting technical programs. In addition, early discussions are underway for offering webcasting of portions of ASA meetings, in order to provide access to scientific content for a larger and more diverse audience.
Looking further into the future, it is critical that ASA mem- bers, staff, and leaders work together to keep the Society strong so it can continue to provide the environment for exchanging scientific information, assuring high quality in publications and standards, and educating future acousti- cians and the public. Toward this goal, more than 60 ASA members and others, representing all of the Society's diverse communities, gathered in Austin in January for the first ASA Strategic Leadership for the Future Summit (see Executive Director's column). At this Summit, plans for the challenges and changing needs of the future were considered and dis- cussed, keeping in mind the high value we hold for ASA’s mission and how best to continue to honor our strong tradi- tions. Perhaps a future President’s report in 2029 that cites ASA’s 100th anniversary will look back at the Summit as an important milestone in ASA history.
Judy R. Dubno
President, Acoustical Society of America
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