Dear AHA Members:

The Nominating Committee will meet in mid-February to recommend two candidates for each of the following positions:

1. President-Elect (our rotation system calls for the nominees to be European historians this year).
2. Vice President of the Teaching Division.
3. Two places on the AHA Council, which governs the Association. (One of the outgoing Council members teaches at a two-year institution. Although AHA policy does not require it, the Nominating Committee would very much appreciate suggestions of members at two-year or community colleges whom we might nominate as a replacement.)
4. A member of the Professional Division, which deals with the rights and responsibilities of historians, professional conduct, the job market, the status of women and minorities, data collection, membership, and professional service prizes.
5. A member of the Research Division, which promotes research and new research tools, governs relationships with fellow professional organizations, establishes and awards research grants and fellowships, and oversees the American Historical Review and the annual meeting—including appointing the chair of the Program Committee.
6. A member of the Teaching Division, which supervises AHA educational activities and the Association's educational publications, promotes history education, and encourages new methods of instruction and cooperation in the development of curricula and other teaching activities.
7. A member of the Committee on Committees, which names members to appointive committees, including book prize committees, standing committees, and grant and fellowship committees. It also appoints AHA delegates to learned and professional societies.
8. Three places on the Nominating Committee, which nominates candidates for all the elective offices and elective committee positions.

Recommending nominees to the Nominating Committee is one of the most significant ways members can affect AHA policy and administration. The process is open. When making nominations, the committee tries to secure representation of all viewpoints, backgrounds, academic interests, all kinds of institutional affiliations as well as unaffiliated historians, and teachers at all levels of the educational system. In short, the committee aspires to have the Association governed by members as diverse as our profession. We would especially appreciate suggestions of historians at two-year and community colleges for all positions but especially for the Council, as noted above.

To accomplish this goal, we need your help. Please propose yourself or any friends and colleagues who you believe can serve the Association in any of these positions. If you think the AHA has not adequately represented some constituency, then please make a special effort to bring to our attention potential candidates who will do so. If possible, send a potential candidate's c.v. and ask others to write in support. But even if you cannot find time to do so, the committee will take every recommendation very seriously and secure information itself. To help us do so, please send us the recommendee's e-mail address if you can.

The only restrictions are these:

1. A nominee must be a member of the Association. If you know good citizens in the profession who you hope will serve the AHA at some point, encourage them to join. You need not check on a potential candidate's membership yourself; the committee can do so.
2. The AHA wants to avoid concentrating leadership positions in a few institutions. Therefore we will not nominate candidates from institutions that are already represented among officers and on elective committees. A list of those institutions follows. However, we maintain files of potential candidates recommended to us, so don't let this stand in the way of recommending someone for future consideration. Amherst Coll., Arizona State Univ., Univ. of California at Berkeley, Univ. of California at Davis, California State Univ. at Dominguez Hills, Columbia Univ., Duke Univ., Florida State Univ., Howard Univ., Johns Hopkins Univ., Michigan State Univ., Univ. of Minnesota, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Rutgers Univ., San Diego Mesa Coll., Seton Hall Univ., Univ. of Texas at Austin, Trinity Univ., San Antonio, Tulane Univ., Univ. of Virginia, West Milford (N.J.) Township Public Schools, William Paterson Univ., and Univ. of Wisconsin at Madison.

Please forward your suggestions as soon as possible, with any supporting material you can provide, to the AHA Nominating Committee, c/o Sharon K. Tune, 400 A St., SE, Washington, DC 20003-3889; you may fax to the same addressee at (202) 544-8307; or e-mail, with supporting material as attachments, to any of the committee members. Please feel free to send comments and make general recommendations about the Nominating Committee's responsibilities to any of its members.

Sincerely,

Michael Les Benedict, Ohio State Univ., chair (benedict.3@osu.edu)

Michael Adas, Rutgers Univ. (madas@rci.rutgers.edu)

Allison Blakely, Howard Univ. (ablakely@fac.howard.edu)

Donald Teruo Hata Jr., California State Univ. at Dominguez Hills (dhata@dhvx20.csudh.edu)

Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz, Smith Coll. (hhorowit@sophia.smith.edu)

Gary Kates, Trinity Univ., San Antonio (gkates@trinity.edu)

Philip D. Morgan, Omonhundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, Coll. of William and Mary (pdmorg@facstaff.wm.edu)

Sara T. Nalle, William Paterson Univ. (nalle@frontier.wilpaterson.edu)

Susan Schroeder, Tulane Univ. (sschroe@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu).