By Steven Cohan, Past President

As Barb Klinger rotates off the Board of Directors following her six years as President-Elect (2011-13), President (2013-15), and Past President (2015-17), I am writing for the Board, current President Pam Wojcik, and for the organization at large, by taking this opportunity to thank her for her service to our organization. I wish to point out to members some of her achievements during her tenure as SCMS President. Under her leadership, important policies were crafted, ranging from usage of the SCMS logo to an updated statement about the political positions that SCMS is at liberty to take in order to be consistent with its mission statement; policies and protocols distinguishing caucuses and SIGs were clarified; SCMS's relation to the ACLS was strengthened; and an investment committee was formed to make recommendations about the society's portfolio. Until this past month, Barb also served on the Fieldnotes committee, which was launched during her presidency, as it began the process of recording, mostly on video, oral histories of cinema and media studies and of SCMS. Perhaps most important for the future of SCMS, under her leadership the new position of Executive Director was carefully defined, and a task force interviewed candidates and recommended Jill Simpson for the position. Barb then oversaw the transition in the home office as Jill came aboard. Subsequently, Barb chaired a subcommittee on restructuring the SCMS office and officer duties, and she began with Jill the work of better delineating the officer positions. It should be noted that during her presidency, Barb also served as chair of her department at Indiana University. She retired from there in 2015 as Provost Professor of Film and Media Studies. Her scholarship on melodrama and reception studies has long been influential, and she has the distinction of twice winning the Katherine Singer Kovacs Essay Award. Now, as she returns to "civilian" life, she is finishing a book on the remediation of classic Hollywood films, using Casablanca as a case study, and, in a change of pace for her, is also working on European TV procedurals. Congratulations, Barb! We all look forward to your new scholarship and we know we will be seeing you at future SCMS conferences!

Please remember that renewing at the appropriate income level and considering a further donation helps keep SCMS accessible to graduate students and under-resourced colleagues, especially at a time when travel funds and research support are declining at many of our home institutions.

Please join us in congratulating longtime SCMS Conference Manager, Leslie LeMond, on her recent promotion to Director of Conferences and Events for the Society. She also now serves as an ex officio member of the Board of Directors. Leslie represents a wealth of institutional knowledge having worked for SCMS for 19 years. While her duties will remain largely the same, Leslie's new title is a more fitting reflection of the level of work she does throughout the year in planning and executing the logistics of our annual conference. Leslie's well-developed negotiation skills, amazing attention to detail, and her unwavering commitment to SCMS and its members make her an invaluable asset to us all. Thank you and well done, Leslie!

Margot Tievant joined the SCMS Home Office on July 5 as our new Program Assistant. In her role, Margot will provide assistance directly to members and will assist the SCMS Home Office with daily administration and conference support. Margot relocated to Oklahoma last year after completing her Masters degree in North American Culture from Universite Michel de Montaigne, Bordeaux.

SCMS wishes to welcome Margot to the Home Office!