I Offer You My Commitment

Happy New Year!

It is a very high honor for me to have the opportunity to represent all ISA Members throughout the world. Your confidence in me to be your President for 2009 is much appreciated. I will dedicate all my efforts to advance the automation profession into the future.

I would first like to offer my appreciation to our Past President, Kim Miller Dunn. She has served the Society with a level of class and dignity that is unmatched. Her accomplishments as President are many. I am proud to have served with Kim not only as President-elect Secretary, but also throughout our past years as ISA leaders. I have always looked to Kim as a being the prototype of the effective ISA leader in the ways she is able to deal with ISA business. I hope that my tenure as President will be as successful as Kim’s.

During my time as president-elect secretary, I have been fortunate to visit and speak at a number of ISA global venues. I have visited India, Mexico, and Brazil. I have also visited some Section and Division events in the USA. The opportunity to talk with the many dedicated and passionate Members in these countries has reinforced my opinion that the International Society of Automation, and indeed the automation profession, is on the brink of great things.

We all must be aware that the tough economic times around the world may have an effect on your Society. I can assure you that the ISA leadership will do everything possible to minimize any negative effects this economic downturn may cause. One of the common points of discussion is how automation and the automation profession will fare during the global economic crisis. My response is that we, as automation professionals at all levels, have an opportunity to offer solutions to the crisis. Automation is a field that can offer industries the methods to improve the productivity, quality, and efficiency of their processes. The automation professional is a valuable asset to any company wanting to improve and maintain high levels of competitiveness.

Another message that I like to convey is that ISA is part of our professional family. ISA is made up of thousands of like-minded professionals with similar interests and backgrounds. We can obtain our continuing education, information on new industry trends, standards, training, conference and exposition opportunities, and much more. But one of the most valuable benefits of our association is in the networking opportunities it offers. Some of my best professional and personal friends have been made through my ISA affiliation.

We will travel this journey through 2009 together as an extended, professional family.

So, this brings me to my thoughts as I enter my term as President. When first elected, many things go through your mind as to what one's agenda will be for the year. It is natural that you want to make an impact. Then reality sets in, and you realize that you only have a year to accomplish certain things. My day job is as a professor at Indiana State University. My responsibilities center mostly on graduate level study at the Master’s and Doctoral level. When my graduate students are considering topics for dissertation research, I always advise them that they should not try to make huge changes to the technology, but should look at "nudging" the technology only a bit. That is going to be my mantra for the year. I want to accomplish enough so that by next year this time, I can say that ISA was moved forward, or "nudged."

So, there it is. I offer you my commitment that I will focus my efforts on making ISA and the automation profession something that we can all be proud of. I want to continue the momentum started by prior administrations to advance automation and the automation profession.
I will look forward to my periodic musings to you during 2009. Stay tuned for more.

-Jerry
2009 ISA Society President