ADSA® Presidential Report

Gradually, the world has returned to normalcy following the COVID-19 epidemic. Your Association—the American Dairy Science Association—has also returned to a more normal state. In my leadership position, I frequently remind people sitting on the Board of Directors that ADSA must be doing two things right if it wants to have satisfied members: publish a top-tier journal and host an outstanding Annual Meeting. For sure, your Association can do many other things, but failure to deliver outstanding outcomes in any of these two programs would result in significant discontent among the membership. The Journal of Dairy Science (JDS), under the leadership of its Editor-in-Chief (EiC) Dr. Paul Kononoff, continues being a leading platform for the publication of outstanding research in the animal sciences in general, and dairy science in particular. The journal saw some considerable changes made by its prior EiC, Dr. Matt Lucy, changes that broadened the journal's scope and enhanced its scientific impact. Upon stepping down as EiC of JDS, Dr. Lucy assumed the position of EiC of a brand-new journal: JDS Communications. Under his leadership, the journal reached some important milestones, and with Lucy's successor, Dr. Jessica McArt, poised to take over the reins in January, we expect JDS Communications to continue to grow. Despite numerous travel hiccups, the 2023 Annual Meeting held in Ottawa, Canada, was on most counts a success. The total number of attendees nearly reached that of the 2019 annual meeting, the last pre-COVID Annual Meeting. More than 1,210 abstracts were accepted this year, and the meeting held 106 invited presentations, both numbers exceeding the 2019 meeting. Once again, I must express my sincere thanks to Dr. Corwin Nelson, the overall program chair, and all members of the Program Committee for their time and dedication in preparing an outstanding scientific program. I am quite sure that you have seen this scenario before: an organization spends an enormous amount of time and efforts to prepare a strategic plan that sits on a shelf as soon as the plan is completed. This is not the case with the last ADSA strategic plan that was completed in 2022. Your Board of Directors, led by our Executive Director Jerry Bowman, is already acting on all facets of this plan. There are five initiatives to this plan: (1) champion dairy science outcomes, (2) unite the dairy science community, (3) grow membership and advance dairy science, (4) create partnerships throughout the dairy sector, and (5) optimize Association administration and governance. Additional details regarding the plan can be found at https://www.adsa.org/Portals/0/SiteContent/Docs/About/Strategic%20Plan%20Initiatives.pdf?v=2. Your Association is financially in enviable shape. In 2009, an aggressive investment plan was set by the then Board of Directors to ensure the financial viability of the organization if it were to lose the revenues from the publication of its journal—a scenario that appeared possible to the Finance Committee at the time. Hence, the Superfund was born and has delivered tremendous asset growth since its creation. A year ago, your Board of Directors decided that the asset accumulation phase was completed and that it was time to use most of the annual earnings from the investments to the benefit of the current members without compromising the long-term sustainability of the investments—something similar to an endowment fund at a university. The Superfund was terminated (it no longer exists) and its assets were divided into two separate funds: a growth fund made entirely of investments in diversified equities (primarily index funds), and an operating fund holding much less volatile and safer investments, from which a portion is annually used to subsidize publication by members in our journals as well as to fund new initiatives derived from the strategic plan. There is an annual targeted growth for the growth fund so that it remains neutral to long-term inflationary effects. Returns over this targeted growth will be annually transferred to the operating fund. Only a set percentage of the operating fund can be used in a given year, hence buffering large annual swings in fund expenditures and ensuring that money will be there in years to come. This revision to our investment policy was initiated by our then President Dr. Paul Kindstedt, and was completed in a timely manner under the leadership of our Treasurer, Dr. Albert De Vries. The future will bring many more challenges to this organization. To me, the biggest ones revolve around membership and the larger animal science community. We must improve the process of bringing young members into leadership positions in ADSA. Your last three presidents are fully retired. There is no question in my mind that I would have been far more effective as your president 10–15 years ago when afternoon naps were not yet the norm for me. If you are part of the much younger generation of dairy scientists, you must make yourself visible and let it be known that you are looking to volunteer in some ways—perhaps by being a member of one of the many committees that are part of the program committee. We cannot nominate you unless we know that you exist and are willing to serve. ADSA is American by origin, but global in its current reach. Modern times mean that we must improve our accessibility to potential members in countries outside of North America. Likewise, although your Board of Directors is quite diverse in regard to the cultural origin of its members, it is in my humble opinion overly “Yankeecentric” for an organization that aims to regroup dairy scientists from all over the world. Perhaps it is time to modify the composition of the Board to ensure representation from other continents. Some of us with gray hair or without much hair remaining still remember the heydays when three scientific organizations with members working across many species and disciplines in the animal sciences were meeting annually in a joint event. In retrospect, the format used—that of a central Program Committee—as well as other aspects of these joint meetings made them unsustainable. However, the members of all three organizations, especially the students and the young and highly productive scientists, have lost tremendously from the abandonment of this annual joint gathering. I do hope that future leaders in the at-large animal science community can find mechanisms to bring back some form of common activities and gatherings. As for myself, there is much more to see in my rearview mirror than through the front windshield of my scientific life. Throughout my career, I have been a member of many other scientific organizations, but the American Dairy Science Association has always remained my home base, the community dearest to my scientific heart. As mentioned previously, I am now professionally retired with my biggest daily worry being whether there is enough wind to go out sailing. I am envious of the energy, depth of knowledge, and skills of the young dairy scientists coming to this organization, those to whom we of an older generation must pass the virtual baton. I think that your organization will remain in very good hands.

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