Page 59 - Spring 2018

Sound Perspectives
Ann Bradlow
Postal:
Northwestern University 1918 Sheridan Road Evanston, Illinois 60208 USA
Email:
abradlow@northwestern.edu
Michael Vorländer
Postal:
Institute of Technical Acoustics RWTH Aachen University 52056 Aachen Germany
Email:
mvo@akustik.rwth-aachen.de
Committee on International Research and Education
The mission of the Committee on International Research and Education is to enhance the role of the Acoustical Society of America in international research and education in acoustics.
The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) Committee on International Research and Education (CIRE) was appointed in 2006 after a long process of careful discus- sion about the need to assist acousticians in Eastern Europe (EE) and the former Soviet Union to survive the severe economic and political changes that followed the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991. In this article, we trace the development of this process from the precipitating event to the present moment of broad internationalization of the ASA. Figure 1 provides a timeline of the critical events in this process.
In the fall of 1992, ASA President Herman Medwin appointed an Ad Hoc Com- mittee to Study ASA-EE Cooperation. This committee included Ira Dyer, who served as chair, and David Blackstock, Malcolm Crocker, and Mark Hamilton as members. This was followed in 1993 with the appointment of a new committee called the Selection Committee for Grants to Former Eastern Bloc Countries. The committee included Peter Mikhalevsky, chair, and Joseph Blue, Malcolm Crocker, James Lynch, and Joseph Pope as members. In collaboration with the Internation- al Science Foundation, a program of the Soros Foundation, this committee sup- ported student grants and distribution of free subscriptions to The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (JASA) to 60 universities and institutes in EE, Russia, and other nations comprising the former Soviet Union.
In 1994, this committee’s purview was broadened and further specified. Specifi- cally, the ASA Executive Council approved plans and committed ASA funds to help acousticians from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and EE.1 This new ASA committee, the Committee for Support for Acoustics in the Com- monwealth of Independent States and Eastern Europe, implemented four major new initiatives.
(1) The CIS/EE Research Grant Program to provide up to $15,000 for 2 two-year grants and between 5 and 10 one-year grants of $500 to $1,000 each.
(2) The CIS/EE Student Fellowship Program to provide a small stipend to deserv- ing students in acoustics at universities and institutes.
(3) The CIS/EE Membership Program to sponsor ASA memberships and pay dues for a limited number of “needy” acousticians.
(4) The CIS/EE Personal Computer Initiative to obtain and distribute used PCs donated by ASA members or their organizations.
This initiatives also resulted in the funding of two research grants, one related to atmospheric research and one in the area of speech communication. In addition, six students received fellowships of $600 each. ASA also added a one-time request for donations to support acousticians in the former Soviet Union and EE countries on its 1994 membership renewal invoices. The request resulted in a donation of $13,000 from ASA members that, when added to the $20,000 committed by the
©2018 Acoustical Society of America. All rights reserved. volume 14, issue 1 | Spring 2018 | Acoustics Today | 57