Happy summer! I hope that your lives are starting to return to their pre-pandemic levels … but only the good parts.

Many of us are getting ready for the in-person (hurray!) 46th ASB Annual Meeting in conjunction with the 22nd Biannual Meeting of the Canadian Society of Biomechanics during the 5th North American Congress of Biomechanics (NACOB) on August 21-25, 2022 in Ottawa, Canada. These five days will be jam-packed with wonderful sharing of science across tutorials, symposia, podium presentations, poster sessions, etc. along with multiple social and diversity activities. See the section by Program Chair Jason Franz to read about the exciting details of this year’s joint meeting. The ASB Annual Business Meeting will be held at NACOB on Wednesday, August 24 from 12:15-1:30 pm. This meeting is open to all in attendance. Come learn about the Society’s operation, volunteer to serve on committees, and see the in-person passing of the presidential gavel for the first time since 2019!

In late 2021, ASB conducted a survey to collect insights into the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the biomechanics community. The results of this survey were compiled into the ASB COVID-19 Impact Statement, which is now available on the ASB Website. We welcome you to cite this statement for your annual evaluation needs or as needed for other purposes. Thank you to Executive Board members (Ajit Chaudhari (chair), Cara Lewis, Evan Dooley, Jason Franz, Maria Pasquale, and Ross Miller) and the Early Career Affinity Group (especially Jessica Allen, Erin Mannen, and Carrie Peterson) for their monumental efforts on the survey and the statement.

In the section by Secretary Ana Ebrahimi, she mentions discussions among the Executive Board about whether member categories and leadership position eligibility should continue using the Society’s five primary disciplines: Biological Science, Engineering & Applied Physics, Ergonomics & Human Factors, Exercise & Sport Science, and Health Science. Ana also brings up how this topic has been a recurring theme, including a reference to the President’s article in the April 1990 Newsletter. The Executive Board welcomes your thoughts on this topic, email or contact us at NACOB.

Ana’s writing led me to also review old ASB newsletters. I found the first newsletters to be amazing and powerful, especially since the action and foresight of 22 people resulted in a professional society that has impacted thousands (perhaps tens of thousands) of meeting participants over five decades and helped to advance the science of Biomechanics into the domain of the general public. We are presented the vision of the founders – to create a unique national organization “to bring together biomechanics researchers from diverse fields” with the explicit desire to not bias membership by having a close affiliation with any existing disciplinary society, e.g., ACSM, ASME, ORS (February 1976). The first meeting at the University of Iowa in October 1977 also underscored the Society’s values of diversity in science and gender as represented by the set of first keynote speakers (Doris Miller, sport; Albert Burstein, bone; Carl Gans, comparative biomechanics). It also illustrated how much the Society and Annual Meeting has grown from that 1.5-day event with fees of $25 for registration (including 2 social hours and 2 lunches) and $13.50-$18.00 for housing!

Moving on to present day, congratulations to the new Executive Board members:

• President-Elect: Sara Myers (Department of Biomechanics, University of Nebraska)
• Program Chair-Elect: James Finley (Division of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy, University of Southern California)
• Student Representative: Anna Bailes (Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh)
• Awards Chair: Rumit Singh Kakar (Human Movement Science Department, Oakland University)
• Education Chair: Allison Altman-Singles (Kinesiology & Mechanical Engineering, Penn State Berks)
• Treasurer: Maria Pasquale (Novel Electronics Inc.), who had been Treasurer-Elect this past year

Additionally, welcome the elected members of the 2023 Nominating Committee: Jaimie Roper (Auburn University) and Emmanuel Tetteh (Mayo Clinic). Thank you to all Society members that graciously accepted the nomination and ran as candidates.

Congratulations to the new Class of 2022 ASB Fellows: BJ Fregley, Steve Kautz, William (Bil) Ledoux, Michelle Sabick, and Kate Saul.

Also congratulations to all of the recipients of ASB awards and grants. See the sections by the Awards Committee Chair Missy Morrow and Diversity Committee Chair Ajit Chaudhari for these awardees.

Along with the election ballot, changes to the Society’s Bylaws were proposed and approved. These changes included minor adjustments, typo corrections, and the addition of a new membership category: Early Career Member, who are considered Regular Members and within five (5) working years of their terminal degree. The Early Career membership rate ($80) is reduced compared to the Regular membership rate ($150) to assist members who are moving into the “real world”.

Finally, thank you to all of the committee volunteers, Podium for their assistance with Society and conference management, and farewell and a HUGE thank you to the outgoing Executive Board members for their dedication and time commitment to ASB and improving the Society: Past-President Nick Stergiou – thanks to the first and hopefully last completely virtual ASB president! Program Chair Jason Franz – looking forward to an outstanding NACOB technical program. Treasurer Jill Higginson – who with Maria Pasquale tackled accounting transitions with Podium and started the Corporate Partnership program to help support ASB’s increased education and outreach awards and activities. Education Chair Louis DiBerardino (my former PhD student) – who kept the regional meetings, Graduate Student Grant-in-Aid program, and ASB Teaching Repository going and growing even during a pandemic. Awards Committee Chair Melissa Morrow – did an outstanding job of navigating and evolving the position as the inaugural chair taking over many of the awards oversight tasks that formerly belonged to the Past President (lucky for me!). And last but not least, Student Representative Evan Dooley – who provided great insight to the Executive Board and pushed the ASB Student Body and Student Committee to improve and increase the Student Chapter program to 12 chapters and initiating the Student Author Ask-Me-Anything (AMA) Series.

Phew, thanks for reading. I hope to see many of you in Ottawa!