IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - September 2016 - 6

◗ The role of Societies and Councils on matters of impor-

tance will be diminished significantly (i.e., decisions are
made by the BoD, not by the EB or the assembly).
◗ The IEEE is an organization of volunteers and has been
working bottom up and not top down, and the proposal
changes this role to some extent.
◗ Evidence presented against the current structure is not
necessarily relevant to the structure; more importantly,
there is no evidence that the proposed structure will fix
any of the issues raised.
◗ The proposed structure is layered with very tenuous connectivity, which can lead to poor communication and
delayed actions if there is to be a consensus among the
three bodies.
◗ There is nothing to prevent the current board from assigning a standing nimble committee to look into strategy.
These are my personal views, and I encourage all of you to
make an informed decision before casting your ballot.
Finally, I would like to report to you that our Society is
making great progress on all fronts. Our journals and con-

fRom tHE EdItoR

RefeRences
[1] B. L. Shoop. (2015, Oct. 4). In brief: IEEE in 2030 optimizing for full impact. [Online]. Available: https://www.ieee.org/
about/corporate/IEEE_in_2030_Presentation_to_the_BoD_4_
Oct_2015_mbr.pdf
[2] IEEE. (2016). Proposed IEEE constitutional amendment. [Online]. Available: http://www.ieee.org/about/corporate/election/
2016_constitutional_amendment.html
GRS

(continued from p. 3)

current status of the related technology, and discusses the
expected future developments in this area.
Two articles are included in the "Chapters" column,
the first of which addresses the past, present, and future
planned activities of the IEEE GRSS Beijing Chapter in China. The second article describes the second IEEE GRSS Turkey Chapter Summer School, organized by the IEEE GRSS
Turkey Chapter in cooperation with TUBITAK (Scientific
and Technological Research Council of Turkey) BILGEM.
A short article in the "Distinguished Lecturer Program"
column describes the general organization of the program
that provides GRSS Chapters with seminars by experts on

ferences are in excellent shape, our Society finances are
better than at any time in its history, and our strategic initiatives are paying off with regard to membership services,
membership growth, inclusiveness, and altruistic goals.
I would like to encourage you all to join forces with the
GRSS Administrative Committee, GRSS technical committees, and the officers of the 54 GRSS Chapters that service
you throughout the world. Together, we can make a more
vibrant Society in the service of humanity.

topics of interest and importance to the geoscience and remote sensing community. The article also includes the current
portfolio of GRSS Distinguished Speakers.
A report on the 2016 IEEE Women in Engineering International Leadership Conference that was held on 23-24 May
2016 in San Jose, California, is presented in the "Women in
GRS" column.
Finally, I would like to draw your attention to the various
calls for nominations and calls for papers in this issue. I encourage you to nominate outstanding colleagues for these awards.
I wish everyone an enjoyable and productive fall.
GRS

ieee Geoscience and remote sensing magazine

SEPTEMBER 2016

https://www.ieee.org/ http://www.ieee.org/about/corporate/election/

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - September 2016