Minutes of the 56th Meeting of the Board of Directors,
Meeting of the Fellows, and Open Meeting of the Members
In conjunction with The U.S. National Congress of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics held in
Gainesville, Florida, the combined Meetings of the Board, the Fellows, and the Members were
held on June 23, 1998. These minutes were taken during the entire meeting, but are submitted
as those of the Meeting of the Board.
A majority quorum being present, President Crandall called the meeting to order at 14:00 EDST.
The following were in attendance: S. Berger, C. Bert, D. Bogy, B. Boley, R. Christiansen,
S. Crandall, S. Datta, D. Drucker, M. Eisenberg, H. Espinosa, M. Fourney, R. Haythornthwaite,
D. Krajcinovic, L. Malvern, D. Mook, S. Nemat-Nasser, T. Oden, J.N. Reddy, and C. Taylor.
1. J.N. Reddy moved that the Minutes of the 55th Meeting of the Board held in the Wyndham
Anatole Hotel in Dallas, Texas on November 18, 1998 be accepted, D. Bogy seconded, and the
motion passed by voice vote.
2. D. Mook reported that there are 117 Fellows on the rolls,
86 paid their dues for 1998, and 23 are retired.
3. Substituting for R. Heller, AAM Treasurer, D. Mook reported that the balance on the day
of the meeting was $19,802.79. The anticipated expenses for the remainder of the year are
$16,525 ($12,000 in publishing costs for Mechanics, $3225 in wages for an assistant to the
Secretary, and $300 for the purchase of plaques and medals for the AAM Awards) so that AAM
should finish the year with a surplus of approximately $3,000. Since the meeting D. Bogy,
S. Crandall, and D. Mook, acting for the Board, approved a $1,000 donation to the U.S.
National Committee on Theoretical and Applied Mechanics.
4. S. Crandall reported that the new format of combining the three meetings was
recommended for the summer meeting on a trial basis in Dallas. We will continue with this
format until a problem arises. For the fall meetings the Fellows will continue to meet in
private, and the combined Meetings of the Board and the Members will continue.
5. Substituting for C. Steele, D. Bogy reported that the Organizing Committee had obtained
a $40,000 grant from NSF to partially support the travel of young people to Rio. The travel
company known as Brazil Nuts has package deals for travel to Rio costing about $1,300 for hotel
and airfare. The organizers have 425 abstracts for Rio: 125 from North America and the rest
primarily from South America and Europe. The publisher for the abstracts has not been decided.
The International Journal of Solids and Structures will print the full-length articles.
There was no report on the site of PACAM VII in 2001.
6. H. Espinosa reported that the website is open. For his outstanding work in establishing
the website and publishing Mechanics, Espinosa received an enthusiastic round of
applause from those present.
7. The nominating committee appointed by President Crandall and chaired by S. Nemat-Nasser
nominated S. Datta for Director of Region IB (the western USA). President Crandall asked for
nominations from the floor. There being no nominations, S. Datta was elected unanimously
by all those present.
8. The election for Secretary of the Fellows was held to replace J. N. Reddy, whose term
had expired. President Crandall thanked Reddy for his outstanding service to AAM.
Two candidates were nominated: C. Bert and S. Mukherjee. C. Bert was elected.
9. There were no Directors's Reports.
10. The discussion of how to conduct the voting for new Fellows was re-opened.
Three important changes were enacted: (1) One Fellow may nominate and or second at most two
candidates in total. (2) The formula was eliminated and the Fellows can accept at most
five new Fellows at the next meeting. (3) It was noted that there is a concentration
of Fellows in one area, and because Fellows elect Fellows the situation is perpetuated.
After some discussion, the following action was taken:
D. Drucker moved that we hold two elections for Fellows. One election will be conducted in the
traditional way: Each Fellow will be asked to vote for at most five candidates, and any
one candidate may receive only one vote from the Fellow. The second will be conducted in a
novel way: Each Fellow will be given five votes which may be distributed in any way the
Fellow chooses; for example, all five votes may go to one candidate. The second election
is to be considered a "straw vote".
M. Fourney seconded and the motion passed.
11. D. Bogy was installed as the new president of AAM and S. Crandall was given an
enthusiastic round of applause for a job very well done.
12. The Meeting adjourned at 15:30 EDST.
Comments and Suggestions to mech1@clifton.mech.northwestern.edu