Dear Friends of Mineralogy,

The first point of this letter is to introduce myself to you.  I have been on the FM board since 2000 and served as secretary and vice-president.  Your elected board members decided that I should serve as the next president at our annual meeting in Tucson this year.  I look forward to serving you over the next two years.  I am sure I have met many of you over the last 7 years but if not, I welcome you visit my website at: www.geoinfo.nmt.edu/staff/lueth/home.html to learn more about what I do for a living.

I am fortunate to follow in the footsteps of one of our most proactive and enthusiastic presidents, Bill Dameron.  Bill initiated a number of projects and programs to make FM more useful to its members and better fulfill our mission.  I hope to continue in that mold and make the organization more responsive to the members and to take an active role in the fields of earth science.  I am fortunate to have Gloria Staebler continue as our secretary and welcome Julian Gray as our new vice-president.  Carol Smith has agreed to take on the newsletter editor position and I look forward to working with her to provide you an informative newsletter.  One of the hardest workers on the FM board, Regina Aumente, agreed to continue as treasurer.

I intend to continue many of the initiatives already started and add one or two more a year.  These plans always adhere to the objectives of our group as stated on the website:

FM's objectives are to promote, support, protect and expand the collection of mineral specimens and to further the recognition of the scientific, economic and aesthetic value of minerals and collecting mineral specimens.

I believe the first thing a new president of an organization should do upon starting the job is to “take stock.”  In light of our objectives, here is what I see:

To Promote...Our members are our best advertisers and advocates.  Word of mouth is a powerful tool and one of the most effective, especially at the chapter shows and symposia.  The grass roots promotion of mineralogy is accomplished at such programs.  In the mineralogical world, our co-sponsorship of the TGMS symposium is a very important link with the professional community &150; one I think we can do even more effectively by becoming more interactive with other societies.  We also promote the hobby in our leading magazines, both Rocks & Minerals and Mineralogical Record, done by the good work of Sharleen Harvey our publicity chair.

To Support...We provide support, both financial and logistical, to our members for a variety of projects both local and national.  Most local symposia/shows are under the purview of the chapters but we have just started sponsoring other shows in places without a local chapter through the national group.  Membership materials have been developed by Nelson Shaffer and will be available on the national website.  The website serves as one of our more important support tools, please use it for information and to contact the directors.

To Protect...Protection of the hobby from outside forces is problematic.  Collecting sites all over the country are closed (private and public) for a variety of reasons.  We are looking into ways to keep the membership informed about public lands issues, led by Allan Young.  We also need to work with other groups, namely AFMS, who have already established a useful group to monitor and mobilize their constituents on public land issues.  Good land stewardship and collecting etiquette go a long way in convincing private owners to let us continue to collect on their property, something we all can do to protect mineral collecting.

To Expand...If we do our promotion, support, and protection well, a reasonable expectation is that the expansion of the hobby will take care of itself.  Introduction of the hobby to others through shows, symposia, and other educational routes will continue to attract new members since the beauty and scientific fascination of mineralogy sells itself.

To Further the recognition...I believe this is the critical role for our organization.  National groups with vibrant memberships have a louder voice than individuals (although we know it is the individuals that do the work).  Our affiliation with the American Geological Institute is an important conduit to the geoscience world where we can join with others and affect legislation and policy.  I believe we should work with other groups when our interests are similar and I encourage our members to consider joining like societies &150; we all have similar interests and can benefit from cooperation.

One of the primary responsibilities of any organization is to appreciate its membership.  I see myself as the sounding board of this fine group and look forward to your opinions and suggestions.  Please feel free to contact me by mail, telephone, or email if you have ideas, concerns, or suggestions about how to make FM succeed in its objectives.

Virgil W. Leuth, President
505-835-5140 (work)
505-835-4889 (home)
email:vwlueth@nmt.edu

Previous Leters from the President

• December 2006
• May 2006
• December 2005