Biophysical Society Bulletin | April 2021

President’s Message

Report fromCouncil The 2021 virtual Annual Meeting was full of firsts for BPS and, al- though we’ve had two virtual Coun- cil meetings already, these were our first virtual Joint and New Council

implementation and execution of the 2021 virtual meeting were discussed at length. A survey is being sent to meeting attendees to gather more feedback, and responses will be shared with Council and Program Chairs. Lukas Tamm, Chair of the Thematic Meeting Committee, joined Council to present a revised proposal for a 2022 Thematic Meeting. The proposal was approved, and the new meeting will be announced once the schedule has been determined. Since we were not able to hold any Thematic Meetings or BPS Conferences in 2020 due to the pandemic, and some of the 2021 meetings will be delayed as well, Council decided not to issue a call for new proposals in 2021 and instead will priori- tize rescheduling previously approved meetings. Kathleen Hall, Chair of the Publications Committee, present- ed a recommendation to Council for a new Editor-in-Chief for Biophysical Journal to succeed Jane Dyson at the end of her term. Vasanthi Jayaraman was unanimously approved by Council and will start her term as Editor-in-Chief on 1 January 2022. Kathleen also provided an update on BPS’s new journal, Biophysical Reports , which officially launched on 22 February, the first day of the Annual Meeting. Council enthusiastically approved a proposal to rename the BPS Innovation Award after a distinguished member of the Society. This award recognizes a BPS member who advanc- es our fundamental understanding of biological systems through the development of novel theory, models, concepts, techniques, or application. A detailed announcement will be included in the May issue of the BPS Bulletin . Council approved the 2021 Nominating Committee which is charged with developing the slate for the 2022 BPS election. Henry Colecraft will chair the 2021 Nominating Committee and will be supported by Committee members Taviare Hawkins, Anna Moroni, Jenny Ross, Cathy Royer, and Pernilla Wittung-Staf- shede. As noted in the Fall Council Report in the December 2020 issue of the BPS Bulletin , the Society has a deficit budget for 2021 due to the impacts of the pandemic on the Annu- al Meeting and membership numbers. Council received an update on BPS finances including current membership and registration counts, which were higher than anticipated but still well below the numbers prior to the pandemic. BPS Trea- surer, Kalina Hristova, shared that reserves are still strong and will help the Society through this difficult year. BPS Secretary Erin Sheets gave Council an update on Sub- groups. Subgroup symposia occurred on the first day of the

meetings. Joint Council, a combi- nation of the current, the outgoing, and the incoming Council members, met virtually on 18 and 20 Febru- ary. New Council, the current cohort, then met virtually on 2 March.

Frances Separovic

Outgoing Council members, Linda Columbus, Jenny Ross, David Stokes, and Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede, as well as Past-Pres- ident David Piston, were recognized for their service and outstanding contributions to Council. Henry Colecraft, Kumiko Hayashi, Susan Marqusee, and Kandice Tanner, were welcomed as incoming Councilors along with Gail Robertson, who tran- sitioned into the President-Elect position at the BPS Annual Business Meeting on Wednesday 24 February. Cathy Royer became Past-President at the Business Meeting as she passed the gavel (screen to screen!) to now President Frances Separovic. At Joint Council, reports from the Editors-in-Chief of Biophys- ical Journal and The Biophysicist as well as from the Chairs of the Inclusion & Diversity (CID), Professional Opportunities for Women (CPOW), Early Careers, Education, Membership, and Public Affairs Committees were reviewed. Council agreed all the Committees have been very productive and engaged, with many delivering excellent virtual programming in support of members these past many months. Most of the Committees have additional programming scheduled for Biophysics Week, 22-26 March, and some have events planned for later this spring and summer as well. A portion of the Joint Council meeting was dedicated to a review and update of the abstract categories for the Annu- al Meeting to ensure we are offering the most up-to-date research categories with the appropriate names as well as relevant techniques. The modifications will be implemented for the 2022 Annual Meeting. 2021 Program Co-chairs, Patricia Bassereau and Bertrand Garcia-Moreno, and 2022 Program Co-chairs Betsy Komives and Art Palmer, provided updates at Joint Council on their respective Annual Meeting programs. Member-suggested sessions and speakers were incorporated into both programs, and the Co-chairs aimed for gender balance as well as scien- tific and geographic diversity. The Co-chairs then reported to New Council, where feedback on the sessions along with the

April 2021

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