AOCS Annual Report 2011 : Page 3

AOCS 2011 ANNUAL REPORT 3 Letter from the Executive Vice President As we continue to transition in our relentless pursuit of radical relevance to you, the publica-tions driving the world of professional society management are “Race for Relevance” (Coerver and Byers, 2011) and “Governance as Leadership” (Chait, Ryan, and Taylor, 2005). In both books, the need for change in the way elected members interact with staff and their constituent groups is asserted in a new way. Governors are leaders, and everyone involved in Board and committee work, including staff , need to pursue conversa-tions from that perspective. I believe this has broader relevance than to our professional society, AOCS. It has to do with the business environment in which we are all active at this point in time. The entrepreneurial mind, the strategic mind, will carry us into the future. Hence, we need to learn to think in terms of what can be and what should be in order for us to reach the goals we strive for. In 2011, AOCS moved into its future in several highly signifi cant and strategic ways, including: • The fi rst “phase” of reduction in the size of the Board from 17 to 12 members, for the purpose of creating a forum for more intense discussion and personal responsibility. • The implementation of a new governance structure, where each board member becomes an expert in one of four critical areas: 1) strategic planning, 2) governance, 3) fi nance, or 4) constituent relations. • Acceptance by the Board of a new Foundation campaign to raise funds for two criti-cal projects that will defi ne the future of the organization: 1) the Global Information Portal (working name) to provide state-of-the-art networking capability through the AOCS website, and 2) development of an industry council to give voice to the companies that drive the industries served by AOCS, ensuring that industry knows what is being discussed on the technical side, and that the technical side knows what is important to global industry. • A search for, and employment of, the fi rst “outside” AOCS staff leadership in 40 years! Because of the executive search and some advertising defi cits, the AOCS budget was not as “glowing” as it has been over the past several years. The good news about that is that the reasons were operational and predictable, rather than systemic. The other good news is that we plan for such things and have reserves in place to address them, ensur-ing the stability of the organization when unbudgeted expenses (sometimes linked to great opportunity!) arise. And I’ll leave you with the last and maybe best thing about 2011, and that is that AOCS is ready to become even more relevant. We have the operational side in line, the fi nances put into place, and the communication platform conceptualized and ready to build. We are a unique organization due to our incredible technical and global diversity. It’s time to build on those strengths in a very deliberate way. So think strategically! And let’s move confi dently forward together! Jean Wills Hinton, Ed.D. AOCS Executive Vice President The global nature of these issues calls for joint and aligned activi-ties on a multidisciplinary level. Coordinating these activities will require a neutral, global platform, and AOCS is in the best possible position to provide it. Working with regional and local partners, we laid some of the groundwork for that this year by co-organizing events in Turkey, Colombia, and India. We also established new relationships that enabled us to reach out to regions of the world in unprecedented ways. For example, the AOCS European Section was inducted as the 13th member organization of Euro Fed Lipid, a highly respected society that serves European fats and oils inter-ests. We also collaborated with regional organizations in India to produce C3 Science , a publication geared toward home and personal care professionals in India. It debuted in the third quarter of 2012. And we laid plans to reach into the Pan-Pacifi c region with the fi rst Singapore 2012 World Conference on Fabric and Home Care. Next year, we will build on those connections by creating a global interac-tive collaboration network that will link us with more than 600 orga-nizations worldwide. To support that bold endeavor, we reviewed and approved a new fundraising campaign that will provide us with the fi nancial resources we need to grow. As my term as president closes, I am optimistic that AOCS will con-tinue to build on these eff orts. It has been both a pleasure and an honor to work with such an enthusiastic board and dedicated group of staff professionals in Urbana, and I am confi dent that the organi-zation is in good hands with incoming president Deland Myers. Erich E. Dumelin AOCS Governing Board President 2011–2012

Letter from the Executive Vice President

Jean Wills Hinton

As we continue to transition in our relentless pursuit of radical relevance to you, the publications driving the world of professional society management are “Race for Relevance” (Coerver and Byers, 2011) and “Governance as Leadership” (Chait, Ryan, and Taylor, 2005). In both books, the need for change in the way elected members interact with staff and their constituent groups is asserted in a new way. Governors are leaders, and everyone involved in Board and committee work, including staff , need to pursue conversations from that perspective. I believe this has broader relevance than to our professional society, AOCS. It has to do with the business environment in which we are all active at this point in time. The entrepreneurial mind, the strategic mind, will carry us into the future. Hence, we need to learn to think in terms of what can be and what should be in order for us to reach the goals we strive for. In 2011, AOCS moved into its future in several highly significant and strategic ways, including: • The first “phase” of reduction in the size of the Board from 17 to 12 members, for the purpose of creating a forum for more intense discussion and personal responsibility. • The implementation of a new governance structure, where each board member becomes an expert in one of four critical areas: 1) strategic planning, 2) governance, 3) finance, or 4) constituent relations. • Acceptance by the Board of a new Foundation campaign to raise funds for two critical projects that will define the future of the organization: 1) the Global Information Portal (working name) to provide state-of-the-art networking capability through the AOCS website, and 2) development of an industry council to give voice to the companies that drive the industries served by AOCS, ensuring that industry knows what is being discussed on the technical side, and that the technical side knows what is important to global industry. • A search for, and employment of, the first “outside” AOCS staff leadership in 40 years! Because of the executive search and some advertising deficits, the AOCS budget was not as “glowing” as it has been over the past several years. The good news about that is that the reasons were operational and predictable, rather than systemic. The other good news is that we plan for such things and have reserves in place to address them, ensuring the stability of the organization when unbudgeted expenses (sometimes linked to great opportunity!) arise. And I’ll leave you with the last and maybe best thing about 2011, and that is that AOCS is ready to become even more relevant. We have the operational side in line, the finances put into place, and the communication platform conceptualized and ready to build. We are a unique organization due to our incredible technical and global diversity. It’s time to build on those strengths in a very deliberate way. So think strategically! And let’s move confidently forward together! AOCS Executive Vice President

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