Amid efforts by the American Physical Society to determine how best to handle the changing nature of scientific publishing, its largest enterprise, two of its three operating officers are stepping down from their longtime posts.
Retiring editor-in-chief Martin Blume will be succeeded next March by Gene Sprouse, while Thomas McIlrath was replaced as treasurer on 1 October by Joseph Serene. Both Blume and McIlrath had served at their posts for 10 years.
APS executive officer Judith Franz, the society’s other coequal officer, said the retirements, though announced simultaneously, are unrelated. Blume and McIlrath were hired at around the same time and were employed under renewable five-year contracts.
Sprouse and Serene are beginning their new positions as APS moves ahead with Free to Read, its open access program announced in September. Although the society is launching the new initiative at the same time it is undergoing a change in command, Franz...
