As promised in prior SOT Communiqués this year, I will continue to provide updates on the strategic planning that SOT is conducting. As I reported in September, in order to obtain the data needed that would serve as the foundation for developing a strategic plan for SOT for the next four years, various information-gathering activities were conducted during the summer of this year. These information-gathering activities were multifaceted and included one-on-one key informant interviews, group interview sessions with leadership from our component groups (i.e., Regional Chapters, Specialty Sections, and Special Interest Groups) and a survey of a representative portion of our membership (selected using SOT membership demographics). It is important to emphasize that the written survey was developed, in part, based on the information obtained from the interviews conducted, allowing Council to probe further into specific areas that were identified during the interviews. All of the information obtained was then compiled, distilled, analyzed, and carefully examined by SOT Council prior to a facilitated planning session that took place in September.
The goal of the facilitated session was to use the gathered information from our membership and key informants to identify the central challenge facing the SOT over the next 3-5 years. Stated concisely, the central challenge is to “Shape the Future of Toxicology in a Changing Scientific Landscape.” This changing scientific landscape includes, but is not limited to, the ever accelerating advancements in science and technology, the convergence of scientific disciplines to address complex biological problems, shifting professional needs of our members, especially with respect to the skill sets they will need to be successful and, of course, the globalization of toxicology and the SOT.
To address this central challenge, three strategic priorities now have been developed in the general areas of strengthening our science, promoting member services, and enhancing global engagement. In its present but not final form, the three strategic priorities are to “Strengthen the Impact and Relevance of Toxicology” as a discipline, “Develop and Support Toxicologists to Capitalize on Future Opportunities,” and to “Expand Reach and Impact Globally.” In 2015, as the new strategic plan is further honed and specific strategic activities prioritized, Council will distribute a draft of the strategic plan to SOT membership for your comments and input in early February. Based on your comments and recommendations, the strategic plan will be further modified, adjusted, and then formally presented at the 2015 SOT Annual Meeting. I want to emphasize that the SOT strategic plan is still a work in progress, hence the information shared above is still evolving but provides the general areas in which the SOT will be placing focus in the next four years.
I would like to use the second half of this President’s Message to convey a few words concerning Shawn Lamb. It was with a sense of sadness as well as joy that I drafted the recent communication informing our membership that after 21 years as Executive Director, Shawn would be stepping down from her leadership role in January 2015 and then retiring in July of the same year. For many of us who have had the opportunity and pleasure of working with Shawn, it is clear that her retirement will be a tremendous loss to our Society. At the same time, I know that Shawn has been looking forward to spending more time with family and directing her creative energy toward other goals. For that I am very happy and wish her much success. For those of you who are less familiar with Shawn, I would like to provide a small bit of history.
Shawn began working with SOT in 1991 as part of the IMG management firm, which in 1993 entered into a joint venture with the Associate Development Group (ADG). With some changes in personnel within ADG, including the departure of Joan Cassidy, the Executive Secretary for SOT, Shawn became Acting Executive Secretary in October 1993. Following a national search, Shawn was named the Executive Director of SOT in 1994, a title change coinciding with changes in SOT Bylaws. These changes occurred during Glen Sipes’ term as SOT President and it is clear that Glen and the SOT Council made a very wise choice in selecting Shawn. In 1999, with encouragement of SOT leadership, the new management firm Association Innovation and Management (AIM), led by Shawn Lamb, was created. The goal of AIM was to provide administrative management for SOT and other scientific societies with common scientific interests. Under Shawn’s leadership AIM grew from a staff of twelve to its current forty-seven employees, managing ten scientific organizations including SOT.
During the period of 1993 to the present, SOT grew from a society of approximately 3,000 scientists to a global society with over 8,000 members. Similarly, the SOT Annual Meeting attendance went from approximately 4,400 to over 6,500 in 2014. Shawn has played a critical role in the success and evolution of our Society. Her many contributions have typically occurred in the background and outside the visibility of our membership, yet important and impactful. What has always been very apparent to our Society’s membership is Shawn’s untiring dedication to SOT. It is virtually impossible to articulate the respect, appreciation, and admiration that the Society membership has for Shawn. It goes without saying that we will greatly miss her continued contributions to the SOT.
On a more personal note, I have had the distinct pleasure of working with Shawn in a number of capacities including twice as part of the SOT Council over a period spanning six years. I have always been greatly impressed by Shawn’s professionalism, leadership qualities, and insights regardless of the situation. Shawn always knows just what to say and how to say it in a way that the message is understood by all and communicated in a manner that places everyone at ease. Having worked with 21 different SOT Presidents and as many Councils, Shawn has demonstrated a remarkable ability to adjust to each and everyone’s operating style while maintaining that smile and sense of humor with which we have all become so familiar. On behalf of the entire membership, I want to extend my heartfelt thanks and wish Shawn our best for all her future endeavors.
Norbert E. Kaminski, PhD
2014–2015 SOT President