1992 AGM Minutes

From BICA (6) 1992

1992 Annual General Meeting of
The Institute of Combinatorics and its
Applications
The 1992 Annual General Meeting of the Institute of Combinatorics and its Applications took place at 4:40 p.m . on Thursday, June 4, in the Kirsch Auditorium of Western Michigan University, shortly before the evening banquet of the Seventh International Conference on Combinatorics, Graph Theory, and Algorithms. Since the Conference organizers had graciously scheduled time for the meeting into the Conference agenda, there was a large attendance of members of the ICA, as well as a few additional visitors from the Conference.

Professor Walter Wallis, as a member of the Council of the Institute, took the chair.

Financial Report for the Year 1991.
This report was presented by Professor Bert Hartnell. Glen Whitehead asked for clarification as to whether or not there was a loss for the year. At the request of the Chair, the Registrar explained that the ICA Inc. showed a loss of $4637.27. However, the ICA, as a separate professional society, also maintained three foreign bank accounts from which funds could be transferred to the ICA Inc in order to pay for expenses in printing, postage, supplies, etc., as needed. When these accounts were taken into account, the Institute had ended the year with a small surplus (details are given at the end of the Financial Report). On motion by Glen Whitehead, seconded by Arthur Hobbs, the Financial Report was accepted.

A copy of the report is appended to this account of the Annual General Meeting.

Report from Executive on Activities of Executive and Council.

Professor Wallis spoke from the Chair, and pointed out that most of the activities of the Executive and Council were foreshadowed in the report of the last AGM, which appeared in Bulletin Number 4. He provided a brief summary in point form.

1. The Executive and Council had re-appointed Dr Jeff Allston and Dr Bert Hartnell as auditors for the year 1992.

2. The Deputy Registrar had prepared the first Membership List, and it was distributed to all members of .the ICA along with Volume 5 of the Bulletin. Since that time, a few alterations of addresses and some additional email addresses have been sent in. These will appea,r in the Bulletin. However, Council feels that it would be worthwhile to issue a second Membership List late in 1993, and has so instructed.the Deputy Registrar. Council proposes an informal vote of thanks to the Deputy Registrar for his work in getting the first Membership List in order; there were general expressions of agreement from the floor.

3. The Euler Medal has been designed, and a model will be prepared. The first medal will be awarded in 1993. ICA members are reminded that the medal will be awarded to a Fellow of the ICA in recognition of a career contribution to combinatorial- research, rather than for any one particular achievement. Members of the Council and Honorary Fellows are not eligible for nomination. The recipient should still be active in research.

Nominations will be requested in a forthcoming issue of the Bulletin.

Arthur Hobbs asked whether the meeting could see the design of the medal. he Chair replied that he did not have a copy available, but that it could be reproduced in the next Bulletin, along with the request for nominations. There was general agreement on the desirability of doing so.

4. Airmail charges for delivery of the Bulletin outside North America are still not the subject of any extra tariff. The Council feels that no additional charge for airmail delivery should be instituted at this time, but will keep the matter under advisement.

5. Since the last Annual General Meeting, Honorary Fellowships have been accepted by Leonard Carlitz, Roberto Frucht, and Sir Edward Wright. This brings the number of Honorary Fellows to seven (the category of Honorary Fellow is restricted to at most ten).

6. Since the last AGM, two ICA lecturers have been designated. These were Professors Charles Colbourn (at the Sixth Midwestern Conference on Combinatorics, Cryptography, and Computing, in Lincoln, Nebraska) and Professor Douglas Stinson (at the Twenty-third Southeastern International
Conference on Combinatorics, Graph Theory, and Computing, in Boca Raton, Florida). In addition, Professor Daniel Younger will be the ICA lecturer at the 18th Australasian Conference on Combinatorial Mathematics and Combinatorial Computing, to be held in July, 1992, in Perth.

7. Council has inaugurated a special status for "Affiliated Groups" or "Affiliated Institutions". Details were given in the material appended to the Membership List. This was to allow groups, in countries where foreign exchange and salary levels present a problem, to join the ICA. To date, a group from the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia and a group from the Bernoulli Society in Russia have joined in this way.

8. The next Annual General Meeting will be held in mid-1993. It is suggested that, following the tradition of holding the AGM in a different county each year when this is possible, the AGM be held either at the British Combinatorial Conference in Keele or at the Australasian Combinatorial Conference in Adelaide. The Executive and Council will be making arrangements in this regard.

Report from the Registrar on Membership and the Bulletin.
At the request of the Chair, the Registrar presented his annual report on matters associated with membership and with the Bulletin ..

1. At the moment, membership stands at 489 (there are always minor perturbations caused by non-payment of dues, or by deaths). It is expected that we will reach the 500 mark some time during the month of June.

2. Almost all members in North America pay by cheques in US dollars or Canadian dollars. This is the most convenient method, and entails the least charge to the ICA.

3. The ICA now holds small accounts in Australia (Brisbane), Great Britain (London), and the USA (Pembina). This represents both a saving to the ICA, and a convenience for members. Most members in Australia pay by equivalent cheques in Australian dollars; some members in Britain are paying by equivalent cheques in pounds sterling.

It is hoped that many European members will be able to pay into the London
account by using Eurocheques.

4. Visa payments are proving very useful for many members outside North America, especially in Europe and in Asia.

4. The Membership List will be used in approaching new members; this is the reason for the inclusion of general background information on the ICA at the end of the list.

5. Submissions to the Bulletin continue to increase. Referees are providing outstanding service in this connection.

6. The lists of talks at large conferences is now being presented as an alphabetical listing; it was suggested by various members that this arrangement would make for easier reference.

7. Contributions to the News of Members section are increasing, but more would be welcomed. Contributions to the Miscellanea section are beginning to be received.

8. Nominations of Associate Fellows and Graduate Members are especially welcome.

Other Business.
The Chair asked if there was any other business to transact, but no items were brought forward.

Adjournment.
The Chair accordingly called for a motion for adjournment. Such a motion was· proposed by Roger Entringer and simultaneously seconded by several members.

Appendix
24 February, 1992
To the Directors of the Institute of Combinatorics and its Applications, Inc.
I have examined the Treasurer's Report of the Institute of Combinatorics and its Applications, Inc., as of December 31, 1991. My examination included such tests of accounting records and other supporting evidence as I considered necessary in the circumstances.
In my opinion, The Treasurer's Report for the Institute of Combinatorics and its Applications, Inc. represents fairly the financial position of the corporation as at December 31, 1991.
J .L. Allston
B.L. Hartnell



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