Morning Sessions

Welcome & Opening Remarks

• Michael H. Moloney – Chief Executive Officer, American Institute of Physics

• Richard Clark– 2024 AIP Federation Assembly Vice-Chair, and Past President, American Meteorological Society

Celebrating Big Wins

Scientific societies are facing substantial challenges in the current landscape. We will kick-off our day hearing about how societies across the federation have risen to the occasion in service to mission and to our member communities. Society leaders will be encouraged to share recent success stories to help us gain a deeper understanding of the good work being done among our peer organizations.

Making Membership Attractive to All

As a new generation of scientists emerges, scholarly societies must adapt to members’ changing needs and expectations, delivering value in new ways to cultivate strong, connected communities. This session will explore the value that societies deliver today and how improve in response to and in anticipation of our members’ needs, especially those of our student and early career members.

Moderator: Stella Kafka, Executive Director, American Meteorological Society (AMS)

Speakers:

• Stephen Roberson , Lead Physicist, 4S Silversword Software Services & President, National Society of Black Physicists
• Charles Brown , Assistant Professor of Physics, Yale University
• Cortney Bougher, Director of Membership, American Physical Society

Breakout Sessions

Annual Forum attendees will participate in group discussions about challenges and opportunities in the membership paradigm, with specific topics driven by attendee input. Society leaders will discuss the gnarly issues facing their membership programs as well as approaches to delivering greater value.

Navigating the challenges to societies in championing DEI efforts

One pressing issue with which all of us face is the prevailing threat to programs designed to address diversity, equity, and inclusion in our communities. Many of our societies’ staff leaders have had the opportunity to discuss aspects of this issue, but that’s not the case for many of our volunteers who are tasked with leading their societies. In this brief session, we will hear a legal perspective on this issue’s impacts and implications for scientific societies.

Moderator: Jovonni Spinner, AIP Diversity, Equity, & Belonging Officer

Speaker:

• Arthur L. Coleman , Managing Partner and Co-Founder, EducationCounsel LLC

Afternoon Sessions

Open Forum Discussions

Attendees will drive the content of the Annual Forum by suggesting topic areas for informal, “unconference” discussions with peers.

Focus on Innovation: Venture Grant Poster Session

AIP’s Venture Grants support collaborative activities that are strategy-driven and promote growth, increased stature, and innovation in and among the Federation’s Member Societies and Affiliates. Here, principal investigators of recently funded projects will share their project outcomes, impacts, successes, and lessons learned. (download posters below)

• Green Meetings –AMS
• Equity Assessment – AMS
• Science Trust – APS
• Increasing Access to Medical Physics Education and Research–AAPM
• Vacuum Technology Course Content for Underserved Communities –AVS and AAPT
• Summer REU in Acoustics for Underserved Communities – ASA
• Collective Action on DEI Programming for Physics/Astronomy Depts –AAPT, APS, AAS, and AIP
• Career Counseling Portal –AMS
• Crystallography Educational Video Library –ACA
• Solar Eclipses of 2023 & 2024 – AAS, AAPT, AMS, Optica, SPS
• AIP Federation DEIBA Strategic Plan – AIP

Speaking out on Societal Issues – Balancing Divergent Member Calls for Action and Business Needs

When is it appropriate for societies speak out about issues facing society at large? Should professional associations only speak on issues affecting science? How can societies effectively respond to members’ concerns? This session will discuss leading practices that societies can use to determine when to speak and how to leverage their stature in broader civil society.

Speaker:

• Paul A. Argenti , Professor of Corporate Communications, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College