President’s Letter: Past Reflections and Future Prospects

This is the time of the year when we tend to reflect on our personal thoughts and feelings, do a little assessment of our recent past, reminisce memories of the good and the sad, and refresh ourselves with new resolutions and hopes. On a personal note, I must admit that I have been completely immersed in TASSA affairs beyond my imagination. It has been, at once, exciting and exhausting, stimulating and consuming, rewarding and painful, and educational and demanding. Start up and growing pains have not surprised anyone, nor had anybody promised otherwise. Yet, have no doubts that the level of dedication, patience, and perseverance that TASSA’s steady steering requires, especially at this juncture, is certainly a lot more than a routine voluntary commitment.

Lest you may think that this message is a litany of complaints and grievances, I would like to unequivocally state the pride I have felt at the end of our first year. With the same pride, I present to you a brief summary of the TASSA programs and activities accomplished in less than a year and, offer you a glimpse of our future plans. I would like to express my gratitude to the group of hard working comrades who share the TASSA vision, believe so strongly in our mission, and inspire me to give it no less than my best.

Here it is in a nutshell:

Annual Conferences: More than 300 prominent scientists attended TASSA’s First Annual Conference held in Washington, DC, in February 2005. The proceedings have been published and are also posted on our Web site. The Second Annual Conference will commence at Drexel University in Philadelphia on March 24th and 25th of 2006. The 2006 conference theme is “Knowledge and Innovation to Benefit Society.” Please visit our Web site at your earliest convenience for conference and registration details. We value your professional and financial support, and count on the generosity of our sponsors to make this event a success.

Visiting Scholars Program (VSP): VSP is geared towards promoting cooperation between our members in the U.S. and their counterparts in Turkey. The program provides no-cost opportunities to the Turkish educational and research institutions to host US scholars visiting Turkey, typically using their own resources. TASSA has developed a database of potential host institutions in Turkey with more than 1,000 entries and intends to keep this program going all year around in the long term.

TASSA-TUBITAK Compact (TASTUB): TUBITAK, the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey, and TASSA have established a compact to develop collaborative scientific research projects. The first workshop, held in Gebze, Turkey in November 2005, resulted in more than 20 potential collaborative projects between the scientists from the U.S. and Turkey. A second workshop is planned in May 2006, and others will follow with regular intervals. TASSA values this collaboration and gives it a high priority among its activities.

Regional Workshops: TASSA aims to hold regional workshops under various themes as a mainstream TASSA activity. The board has developed a protocol of organizing such workshops. Under these guidelines, the first workshop was held in Raleigh, North Carolina, in October 2005. The workshop, “From Internship to Expertise: The Agony and Ecstasy of Climbing the Career Ladder,” provided valuable advice for younger generations. More of such workshops are under consideration.

Sponsorships: TASSA forged alliances with other organizations that foster similar or overlapping missions to advance science and education. Among these activities are the sponsorships of conferences organized by the Turkish American Medical Association (TAMA) in New York and the Turkish American Doctors Association in Midwest (TADAM) in Chicago. In May of 2005, TASSA sponsored a conference organized by the Turkish American Business Connection. And recently, TASSA became sponsor of a Turkish American Cultural Society of Rhode Island for their speaker series and exhibitions in partnership with a The RISD Museum on Ottoman art.

Web site: Web-based presence is high priority for any network-based organization like TASSA. Our Web site serves as a medium for communications and a discussion forum for membership. We conduct our official business on our Web site, and use it as a tool for decision making in the governance of TASSA. Additionally, we are very close to the completion of a very powerful Web-based membership database search system. It will allow our members to reach other scientists in any given field, allowing our members to identify potential research collaborators.

Membership: We currently have about 1,350 registered members. Approximately 20% of them are dues paying members, and hence, is an obvious area of improvement for TASSA.

Fundraising: These activities have been sporadic in the past. Now that we have a reasonable number of programs and accomplishments in our portfolio, we intend to start a more planned approach to fundraising. Establishing a healthy source of funding is essential to further our mission for the advancement of science and education. Our future plans for implementing scholarships and grant programs are contingent upon the success of these efforts and your continued support.

Bylaws: As of December 20, 2005, the Bylaws and Elections Committee has produced a new amended bylaws (version 6.0) to be presented to the general assembly for its approval. A special online TASSA general assembly of eligible members will officially start on January 10, 2006, with a single agenda item, the new bylaws.

Considering the fact that TASSAs first face-to-face board meeting was held only in May 2005, that functioning in virtual media is a reality, and that we have no professional staff for assistance, I hope that you find the list above convincing that TASSA governance has been busy on your behalf.

In closing, I urge you to consider paying (online) your 2006 membership dues today, to get more actively involved in TASSA programs and activities, and to support our thriving organization.

I wish you and your loved ones a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year.

May all your holidays be full of love, joy and peace.

Suleyman Gokoglu, Ph.D. President, TASSA