UniForum members were faced with difficult choices as they marked their board of directors election ballots this past month. The slate of candidates was as strong as has ever been seen, with both incumbents and new nominees providing a mix of experience and a range of options as to where they would help lead the association.
Perhaps it was this outstanding field that accounted for the heavier-than-usual number of ballots returned, with more than 20 percent of the membership voting. The response is a good indicator of member vitality in UniForum, and the new board will be taking note of this activity.
Eight candidates ran for the four available two-year terms. Of the four winners, two were incumbents and two are new to the board. They are:
Jeanne Baccash, reelected
Michael Prince, reelected
Rob Gingell, elected
Fred Luiz, elected
These four join the other board members--Alan Fedder, Wayne Fowler, Ron Lachman, Michael Tilson, Donna Van Fleet and ex officio member, Tsvi Gal--as the new board officially seated at the UniForum board of directors meeting held July 12 in Toronto, Canada.
Jeanne Baccash, assistant vice president at AT&T GIS in Lincroft, NJ, has been a member of UniForum almost from its inception. She is perhaps best known for her work in developing what became known as the Single UNIX Specification--the unification project for Unix that has meant so much to our industry. Jeanne also chairs the UniForum Technical Steering Committee, which reviews new technical publishing opportunities for the association. Jeanne can be reached at jeanne.baccash@lincroftnj.ncr.com.
Michael Prince, director of IS at Burlington Coat Factory in Etna, NH, is one of the most respected and pioneering users of advanced information technology. His embrace of Unix systems for his company and the demands he puts on his vendors for solutions make him the prototypical UniForum member. Mike can be reached at mike.prince@coat.com.
Rob Gingell, Sun Microsystems vice president and Sun Fellow (Mountain View, CA) is responsible for the overall technical direction, engineering tools, practices and procedures at his company. He is also a board member of both X/Open and the Open Software Foundation, and he serves on the UniForum '97 Conference Planning Committee. Rob can be reached at gingell@sun.com.
Fred Luiz, general manager of the Open Systems Software Division at Hewlett-Packard in Cupertino, CA, has managed several key projects at HP including HP labs, information architecture and networked systems architecture, where he focused on advanced technologies for the Computer Systems Organization. Fred can be reached at fred_luiz@hp.com.
The new UniForum board will have a number of important items to deal with right off the bat, including the UniForum '97 Conference and Trade Show, new programs to expand the Conferences and Seminars department and new directions for growth in membership and corporate sponsorship. Future issues of UniNews and the "Association News" department in UniForum's IT Solutions will cover progress made on these and other organizational challenges throughout the year.
At the Toronto meeting, the new board unanimously reelected Michael Tilson as president of the Association for another year. The board also unanimously elected Jeanne Baccash to the post of executive vice president. Tilson then appointed Michael Prince as the board's new chief financial officer, and reappointed Allan Fedder as vice president of marketing and Richard Jaross as board secretary.
A final note: the Toronto meeting was also the occasion of Jim Bell's retirement from the Board. Jim's service to UniForum since 1988 has been widely reported as has his continuing service to the industry as CEO of The Open Group. Members of UniForum owe Jim a deep measure of gratitude and UniNews suggests that members e-mail Jim at jb@cup.hp.com with their expressions of thanks.