Executive Committee of the American Institute of Physics
Minutes of Meeting
Members Present: R. A. Sawyer, Chairman; W. R. Brode; J. W. Buchta; S. A. Goudsmit; W. W. Havens, Jr.; R. B. Lindsay; G. E. Uhlenbeck
AIP Staff Present: Elmer Hutchisson; Wallace Waterfall; Henry A. Barton; Mary M. Johnson
The Chairman called the meeting to order at 8:37 a.m.
1. Minutes
Upon motion made, seconded and passed, the minutes of the meeting of December 10, 1960, were approved as distributed.
2. Distribution of Minutes
The Secretary recalled that at the March 16, 1957, meeting of the Governing Board, action was taken directing that minutes of Executive Committee and Governing Board meetings be sent to all Governing Board members and Member Society officers. This action was taken in order to improve communication and keep Board members and Society officers informed about Institute activities. During the past year, the Director has been sending a letter each month to Board members and Society officers summarizing Institute activities and reporting progress on various projects; and the staff now feels that this monthly letter obviates such wide distribution of the minutes. The Secretary pointed out that our contracts with Member Societies require an exchange of minutes between secretaries of the Societies and the Institute. After brief discussion, the Executive Committee agreed that it will recommend to the Governing Board at its next meeting that the above-mentioned action be rescinded and that minutes of Executive Committee and Governing Board meetings be distributed to Board members and Society secretaries only.
3. Editorial Department Organization
The Secretary reported that Norma Frankel, who had been in charge of our Editorial Department for the past year, has left the Institute and that Mr. James Mills has been employed to manage that Department with the title of Supervisor, Editorial Department. Mr. Mills has had seven years experience in similar work and we believe we have now achieved an arrangement in that Department which will produce the most satisfactory results for the future. Ruth Bryans has been appointed Assistant Supervisor.
4. Changes in PHYSICS TODAY Staff
Although both Mr. and Mrs. Davis have contributed greatly to the success of PHYSICS TODAY, they have recognized for some time that their working together may not be best in the long run for either them or AIP. For example, they both go on vacation at the same time. Also their home life has become just an extension of the day’s work in the office. Mrs. Davis has decided, therefore, that it would be best if she were to find employment elsewhere and plans to do so as soon as possible. Unfortunately, Jacqueline Mirken will be leaving the PT staff within a few months too, but Dietrick Thomsen, who has been on the PHYSICS TODAY staff since last October, has shown excellent promise and it is felt he will contribute considerably to the quality of PT. It is also being planned that, beginning in the fall, Dr. Donald Cunningham will divide his time between Student Sections and PHYSICS TODAY. He will bring additional knowledge of physics to the PT staff and it is expected that, through his Student Sections activities, he will come in contact with various sources of news and other items of interest to PT readers. Alexandra Hontchar will take over some of Mr. Davis’ responsibilities.
5. Page Budget for THE JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS
The Director stated that the rate of growth of pages in JCP is such that, in spite of the fact we allocated an extra 32 pages per issue for this year, there is now a backlog of about 450 pages. The staff recommended that authorization be given to increase the page budget by another 32 pages per issue for the balance of the year, beginning in March, which will increase JCP expenses by a net of perhaps $5,000 or $6,000.00. It is proposed that the loss be taken out of Operating Reserve, which was established for just such a purpose.
The Secretary reported that the staff is working on trying to improve publication charge honoring and there are indications that other societies are considering the adoption of publication charges. If the Chemical Society, for example, were to institute the practice of collecting such charges it should help our situation with JCP considerably.
After brief discussion, the following motion was made, seconded and passed without dissenting vote:
MOVED that the staff be authorized to increase the JCP page budget by 32 pages per month, beginning in March, for the balance of 1961; and that the resultant deficit, if any, be taken from the Operating Reserve.
6. Status of the Project on The Recent History of Physics
The Director recalled that he had been authorized to seek funds for the subject project. Our Committee on the History and Philosophy of Physics met recently and the proposal was endorsed with minor modifications. Comments have been enthusiastic and NSF is interested and, we believe, will provide support although we do not anticipate receiving any assurance from them for a month or two. The Director described some details of the proposed project and said that W. James King of the Smithsonian Institution has expressed a willingness to join the AIP staff for this project. The staff would like to engage Mr. King, beginning the middle of this year, in which case it would be necessary to underwrite half of his annual salary of $12,000 in anticipation of receiving a grant. The following motion was made, seconded and passed without dissenting vote:
MOVED that the Director be authorized to employ Mr. King to undertake direction of the subject project and that the Institute underwrite his salary for six months in anticipation of obtaining a grant to cover the whole project.
The Director stated he believed it would be desirable to expand the Committee on the History and Philosophy of Physics and also to establish liaison with the similar APS committee on the Wheeler project. Some suggestions were offered and the following motion was made, seconded and passed without dissenting vote:
MOVED that the Chairman and the Director be authorized to enlarge the Committee on the History and Philosophy of Physics as may appear desirable.
7. Status of History of Physics Library
The Director recalled that he had been authorized to accept funds for a proposed Library on the History and Philosophy of Physics to be included in the addition to our building now being planned. Dannie Heineman is interested in donating a total of $40,000 for such a library and we are negotiating an agreement indicating exactly how and when the funds are to be turned over to AIP. Mr. Heineman appears to favor our naming it in honor of some distinguished physicist. The Director and the Secretary answered several questions about how the $40,000 might be used and the Director said he would hope to make an announcement of our agreement with Mr. Heineman at the APS meeting in Washington next April. The following motion was made, seconded and passed without dissenting vote:
MOVED that the staff be authorized to undertake a contractual commitment with Mr. Heineman under which the funds he proposes to give us will either be used for the purpose specified within the time limit stated or returned to Mr. Heineman.
8. The Institute as an Information Center on International Physics Activities
The Director distributed copies of an outline covering various activities which the staff is now doing or would like to undertake to be of greater service internationally to physicists (copy attached). At the present time we have only the half time of one person to devote to these activities and we would like to increase our staff sufficiently so that we can undertake them properly. It is believed that funds can be obtained to subsidize this program for several years and the staff requests authorization to request such funds. There was a brief discussion after which the following motion was made, seconded and passed without dissenting vote:
MOVED that the staff be authorized to seek funds for the purpose of establishing an Information Center on International Physics Activities requiring a full time staff member and secretary for a period of approximately five years.
9. Election of New Corporate Associates
The Secretary reported that the following organizations had requested to become Corporate Associates of the Institute and, on motion duly made and carried, they were so elected:
- Pacific Semiconductors, Inc. ($600)
- TRG Incorporated ($350)
- The Carborundum Company ($350)
- Acoustics Associates, Inc. ($350)
The Secretary reported that two Corporate Associates did not renew their membership for 1961 although no reasons were given. In addition, the following name changes were reported for the record:
- Bausch & Lomb Optical Company changed to Bausch & Lomb Incorporated
- ITT Laboratories changed to ITT Federal Laboratories
- Standard Oil Company (Indiana) changed to American Oil Company
The Director reported that we have received $82,900 from Corporate Associates for 1961, which includes dues of new members. Out (our) total billing at the beginning of the year was $97,500 and outstanding invoices amount to about $18,000.00. Approximately a year ago we had 144 Corporate Associates compared with 185 at the present time.
The Director distributed copies of a page from the program of the AIP Fifth Anniversary meeting which was held in October 1936. There were eleven Associate Members at that time of which nine are still Corporate Associates and it has been suggested that we might consider this as the 25th anniversary of our Corporate Associates program and honor those organizations which are still with us. The Director proposed that a silver certificate be awarded to them at the time of our fall meeting and that a symposium on developments in physics would be appropriate. At the same time, we would hope to announce an increase in Corporate Associates dues. The Executive Committee voiced no objections to this proposal.
10. Leave of Absence for H. A. Barton
The Director reported that Mr. Barton had asked to be relieved of work during the month of January and this leave had been authorized with the assumption the Executive Committee would approve. Mr. Barton expects to be decreasing his time in the office during the coming years and the Executive Committee authorized the Director to grant him such leaves of absence as he requests without pay.
11. Future Meetings
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Confirmation of Mail Ballot
The Secretary reported that the results of a recent mail ballot approved changing the next Executive Committee and Governing Board meetings dates from March 17 and 18, respectively, to March 24 and 25. Upon motion made, seconded and passed, the mail ballot was confirmed.
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Fall Meeting
The Secretary called attention to the fact that the fall meeting of AIP Governing Board, Member and Associate Member Society officers, and Corporate Associates had been set for October 11-13. Arden House is not available to us on those dates and other meeting sites which have been explored do not compare favorably with Arden House. The only available dates at Arden House are September 27-29, or late November, and the results of a questionnaire which was sent to Governing Board members indicates that there are none who could attend a meeting at Arden House on September 27 through 29. The Director commented that Corporate Associates are particularly fond of Arden House and it was the feeling of the Executive Committee that their wishes should be the determining factor. The following motion was then made, seconded and passed without dissenting vote:
MOVED that the fall meeting of AIP Governing Board, Member and Associate Member Society officers and Corporate Associates be held at Arden House on September 27-29, 1961.
12. Report on Student Sections
The Director reported that in 1959 the Institute had 52 Student Sections with 1,500 members. We now have about 150 Sections with 5,200 members. We believe this is close to half of the total number of physics majors in United States colleges. As a result of Mr. Cunningham’s efforts, many student members have joined Member Societies and, in one Section, all members are affiliated with Member Societies. Mr. Cunningham and Mrs. Snider have arranged for rooms at the large Society meetings where student members may gather to hear versions of papers intended specifically for them. The cost of Student Section activities has been figured at about $3.45 per member, but it is felt this is a worthwhile expenditure and necessary to compete with other societies which have very strong student section programs.
13. Distribution of Dues Collections
The Secretary explained that, because of complicated problems which have arisen as a result of our punch card conversion, our distribution of dues collections to Member Societies has been delayed this year. He had offered to advance money on account to any Society which requested it.
The meeting adjourned at 10:07 a.m.