On 1 July, John A. Orcutt will ecome president-elect of the American Geophysical Union. He will become president in 2004, succeeding Robert E. Dickinson.
Orcutt received his BS in mathematics and physics from the US Naval Academy in 1966 and his MSc in physics from the University of Liverpool, where he studied as a Fulbright Scholar, in 1968. He earned his PhD in Earth sciences from the University of California, San Diego, in 1976 and is currently a professor of geophysics at UCSD and director of the Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics in La Jolla, California. His research interests include the application of seismology to understand crustal and mantle structure and to monitor nuclear test ban treaties.
“During the next four years, [AGU’s] transition from author-prepared to fully electronic journals will be a critical one,” says Orcutt. “I shall do what I can for the AGU to succeed given the importance of publications to the AGU,” he adds. “I am concerned that increasingly conservative copyright law will have an enormous negative impact on scientific research. I hope to foster informed involvement by members throughout the AGU.”
Also taking office on 1 July will be Terry Tullis (Brown University) for a two-year term as general secretary and Anny Cazenave (Laboratoire d’Etudes en Géophysique et Océanographie Spatiales) for a two-year term as the union’s international secretary.
