The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers
The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers
The
American Institute of Mining,
Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Inc.
Report of the
2000 President Robert
E. Murray
The
year 2000 marked AIME's 129th anniversary; it was also a year marked by
significant accomplishments.Most significant was the implementation of the new Long Range Plan,
which was approved in 1999.
We also took positive steps, using the new governance structures
provided in the Long Range Plan, to search for and engage new investment
advisors in the form of a Chief Investment Officer.
With
the new AIME Executive Director in place at the start of 2000, the Institute
was able to fill the two open staff positions with permanent employees.I know that I echo the sentiment of the entire Board
of Trustees when I tell you that we are pleased, not only with these
fine people themselves, but with their immediate contributions to AIME.
I
am pleased to report to the AIME community on the significant progress made
in these areas and on other pertinent developments.
2000 Annual Meeting
AIME
celebrated its 129th year with The Minerals, Metals &
Materials Society (TMS) at their Annual Meeting at Opryland in
Nashville, Tennessee, on March 13, 2000.The AIME and TMS banquets and awards ceremonies were combined into a
single all-inclusive and impressive event.
An
account of the 129th annual meeting and the awards ceremony may be found on
page 8 [of the AIME Annual Report], followed by the names of the various
award winners. I
wish to thank both the TMS and AIME staffs for organizing this event and to
express my appreciation to TMS leadership for creating such an inviting host
environment.
The
2001 Annual Meeting will be in Denver, Colorado.On Monday, February 26, 2001, I will hand over the gavel to Grant P.
Schneider of ISS.
Government Affairs
through AAES
AIME
government affairs activities continued during 2000 through the American
Association of Engineering Societies (AAES), located in Washington, DC.
These efforts involved several volunteers, each representing a member
society, and AIME and TMS staff serving on various AAES councils,
commissions and task forces. The AAES Board of Governors continues its
focus and limited resources on the engineers' public policy activity and a
program of public awareness of engineers and engineering that fits with
AIME's initiative to Enhance the Image of Engineers. AIME, the Member
Societies and AIME, through its United Engineering Foundation activities,
have supported these efforts.
I
applaud the AAES activities and was pleased to accept their request to be a
member the AAES nominating committee for 2002. The AIME Executive
Director remains on the AAES Executive Committee and continues as the chair
of the By-Law committee. Our thanks to Paul Campbell, 1999 AIME
President, who served on the AAES 2001 nominating committee. We will
continue to maintain a close connection to this organization whose purpose
is to serve us in the Nation's capitol.
Overarching and
Member-Direct Programs
Overarching
and Member Direct programs were added to the AIME lexicon in 1994. Overarching programs are defined as those that carry out the purposes
of the Institute and may include participation by one or more of the member
societies; member-direct programs are those carried out by the Member
Societies. Approval
of specific programs is limited to those that clearly carry out the purpose
of AIME, as described in its bylaws (Article I, Section 2). The selection of
specific projects and the balancing of programs is the responsibility of the
Board of Trustees.
Since
the inception of these programs, AIME has committed $5,112,302, of which
$394,700 was for overarching programs, and the balance for member direct.Of the $4,717,602 for member direct, SME
received $1,051,646, TMS $910,443, ISS
$797,761 and SPE received $1,957,752.
A
new and very exciting overarching program, one that I am personally
overseeing and which we call Outreach Initiative #1 or Career Development,
is being assessed right now. Some of you may have participated in this
initiative by filling in a questionnaire from The Gallup Organization; the
introduction read: "For a successful career, your current
management and the marketplace require that you are technically proficient
and have also developed a business sense. In this regard, AIME and its
Member Societies are interested in helping you
achieve your full career and personal growth potential by pursuing the
possibility of offering a series of short courses in the areas of Leadership
Growth, Financial Acumen, Business Operations, and Personal Enrichment.
Where applicable, the design of the courses will be industry specific.
The results of this survey were very positive and when presented to the AIME
Board of Trustees, it was determined to take the
next step and work to develop the initial courses to be made available to
the membership of the member societies. I see this initiative as AIME
reaching out directly to each of you, the membership.
Sale of the United Engineering Center
The
sale of the United Engineering Center, a building owned by the United
Engineering Trustees, AIME, ASME
(American Society of Mechanical Engineers), ASCE
(American Society of Civil Engineers), AIChE
(American Institute of Chemical Engineers), and IEEE
(Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers), and AIME's move with the
other four "Founder Societies" to a commercial building in New
York City has been reported to you earlier. In anticipation of the
sale, the AIME Board of Trustees voted that the four AIME Member Societies
would share in the proceeds from the sale for projects and activities that
uphold the mission of AIME which is "...[a corporation] organized and
operated exclusively to advance, record and disseminate significant
knowledge of engineering and the arts and sciences involved in the
production and use of minerals, metals, energy sources and materials for the
benefit of humankind, both directly as AIME and through the Member
Societies." In September of 2000 the final distribution was
made, and SME received a total of $2,048,740.94 as its
portion of the proceeds, TMS received $1,555,678.44, ISS
$1,552,857.75 and SPE $3,296,289.76. Additional
reference is made to this distribution in the Financial Statements and Notes
of the Auditors.
Finance
You
are invited to review the audited financial statement for the AIME
Corporation for fiscal year 2000 (ending November 30, 2000) starting on page
15 of this report. This
is the second year the audit firm selected in 1999 audited the AIME
Corporation and the combined savings plan for AIME and the member societies. We think you will find this financial report even easier to read than
it was last year.
AIME
assets decreased $5.2 million from the end of fiscal year 1999 to $12.2
million at the end of fiscal year 2000. However, the 1999 figure included $2.8 million in undistributed funds
from the proceeds from the sale of the UEC; in 2000 all of those funds were
distributed to the member societies.
During
2000 AIME continued to look at the most cost effective and efficient ways to
handle its financial functions. I am pleased to report the 2001 budget for outside financial services
is one-half of the 1999 amount.
Inter-Society Affairs
United Engineering
Foundation (UEF)
I
am pleased to report that AIME continues its effective involvement in the
governing of the UEF. As the terms of present trustees expire, effective with the 2000 UEF
Board, AIME and the other Founder Societies will be represented by their
executive directors; by 2002 both their presidents and executive directors
will represent them. John
Hammes, AIME Vice President-Finance, was the 2000 UEF President and has been
reelected for 2001.
Founder Societies
I
am pleased to report our continued effective interactions with the Founder
Society officers and executive directors in matters of common interest. This interaction has provided the president-elect, the executive
director and me with an important opportunity to become cognizant of the
broad spectrum of issues affecting the engineering profession. One of the ways we worked together in 2000 was to approve a United
Engineering Foundation grant to AAES for newspaper ads directed toward
enhancing the public's awareness of engineers.
ABET
The
Institute also retained its relationship with the Accreditation
Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), as an affiliate body, and
is represented by its Executive Director who serves as an official observer
at ABET board meetings. ABET is revising its own governance, and it is anticipated the
affiliate bodies, which already "sit at the table," will soon have
an official vote.
In Appreciation
It
has been an honor for me to serve as your AIME president, to have had the
opportunity to associate with and be assisted by the many fine people who
comprise the AIME family, and to have the privilege of representing AIME on
many auspicious occasions. I reflect with great gratitude and affection on my visits to the
local sections and on the opportunity to strengthen AIME's ties with its Member
Societies and with the other Founder Societies.
I
appreciate the cooperation of the Board of Trustees
of AIME. I
also extend my sincere appreciation to the Member Societies' boards of
directors and executive directors, the staffs of AIME and the member
societies, committee members and others for their dedicated support during
the past year. During
the past year I had the one opportunity to visit the new AIME headquarters
in New York City, and I encourage all of you to stop by and "look us
over." I
also congratulate and pledge my full support to 2001 President Grant P.
Schneider and the new Board of Trustees, all of whom are depicted in the
AIME Annual Report.
