Through e-mail correspondence between February 20 and May 15, 2013, the Council of the American Historical Association made the following decisions:

• Approved an AHA amicus brief for submission to the Supreme Court case US v. Windsor, a case contesting the validity of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). (Note: this vote followed an extended discussion of the issue, and preliminary approval, at the January 2013 Council meeting.)
• Appointed William Thomas of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln to serve a three-year term as the AHA delegate to the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
• Approved a statement opposing a proposed congressional amendment restricting National Science Foundation funding for research in political science.
• Approved supplemental appointments of AHA members to serve on prize and grant committees: David Nirenberg, Univ. of Chicago (Adams Book Prize); Lora Wildenthal, Rice Univ. (Beer Book Prize); Cornelia Dayton, Univ. of Connecticut (Beveridge Book Prize); Richard Kagan, Johns Hopkins Univ. (Gershoy Book Prize); Lisa Wolverton, Univ. of Oregon (Jameson Book Prize); Philippa Levine, Univ. of Texas at Austin (Kelly Book Prize); Walter Rucker, Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (Wesley-Logan Prize); Thomas M. Heaney, Feather River Coll. (Roelker Mentorship Award); and Michael A. Osborne, Oregon State (Schmitt Research Grant).
• Approved a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry in support of granting entry visas to Cuban scholars invited to attend the Latin American Studies Association conference on May 29–June 1, 2013, in Washington, DC.
• Endorsed a letter prepared by the American Anthropological Association that provides guidance to funding agencies as they develop open access plans for peer-reviewed publications.
• Endorsed a letter prepared by the History of Science Society expressing concern about the request of Rep. Lamar Smith, chair of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, to examine peer review reports of National Science Foundation grants.

At the mid-year meeting of the Council of the American Historical Association, held June 1–2, 2013, in Washington, DC, the Council made the following decisions:

• Approved the appointment of Michael Les Benedict, Ohio State Univ., to serve as AHA parliamentarian for a three-year term.
• Approved the selection of members for the 2015 Program Committee: Kathryn Burns, Univ. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Alexander Byrd, Rice Univ.; Bryna Goodman, Univ. of Oregon; Florence C. Hsia, Univ. of Wisconsin–Madison; Lisa Leff, American Univ.; Susan Weber Maurer, Nassau Community Coll.; Nancy McTygue, Center for History in the Schools, Sacramento; Richard Rabinowitz, American History Workshop; Omnia El Shakry, Univ. of California, Davis; William G. Thomas III, Univ. of Nebraska–Lincoln. Note: Derek Peterson, Univ. of Michigan–Ann Arbor, was approved as the final member of the 2015 Program Committee via Council listserv on June 10, 2013.
• Approved the appointment of Andrew W. Robertson, Graduate Center, CUNY, and Valerie Paley, New-York Historical Society, to serve as the 2015 Local Arrangements Committee co-chairs.
• Approved the selection of the 2013 Awards for Scholarly Distinction.
• Approved a revision to Bylaws Article IV (3.3.c.i), pursuant to the Constitution Article IV, Section 6, outlining that an executive director search committee consist of the past president (chair), a current member of Council, a member of the Association resident in the Washington, DC, area, and up to two additional members selected at the discretion of the president and with the approval of the Executive Committee.
• Approved revisions to Bylaws Article IV, Sections 3 and 6, establishing that the controller will be appointed by the executive director subject to approval by the Council, and will report to the executive director.
• Approved a revision to Bylaws Article VIII (10.2), pursuant to the Constitution Article VIII, Section 2, outlining that Council shall appoint to the Finance Committee at least two individuals with financial expertise.
• Approved revision to Bylaws Article IX (12.3–7), pursuant to the Constitution Article IX, Sections 1–3, eliminating the clause requiring Nominating Committee supervision of election ballots, and moving up the schedule of elections so that nominations must be received by May 15, and ballots must be returned by July 15.
• Approved the renewal of the External Agency Agreement with Indiana University for hosting the offices of the American Historical Review.
• Approved a statement of responsibilities and expectations of the Investment Subcommittee.
• Approved the AHA's budget for the 2013–14 fiscal year.
• Proposed changes to the AHA's annual meeting guidelines to allow for the Local Arrangements Committee to arrange up to five sessions at the annual meeting.
• Approved a change to the AHA's Prize Policy stating that prizes will be announced at the annual meeting and removing specific information about timing of these announcements during the meeting.
• Accepted the recommendation by the Research Division encouraging the Program Committee to promote creative session formats at the annual meeting.
• Approved a change to the AHA's Prize Policy removing the limitation that "No prize should be established by a living person to bear his or her own name during his or her lifetime."
• Approved a change in the appointment terms of the Marraro Prize Committee members from four to three years.
• Approved the acceptance of a bequest of $40,000 from Dorothy Rosenberg Passer to establish the Dorothy Rosenberg Prize for the History of the Jewish Diaspora and the initiation of a fundraising drive to supplement this bequest.
• Approved a clarification in the description of the J. Franklin Jameson Award for outstanding achievement in the editing of historical primary sources.
• Approved a clarification in the description of the Littleton-Griswold Prize in US law and society, broadly defined.
• Approved the selection for the 2013 Troyer Steele Anderson Prize for contributions to the advancement of the purposes of the Association.
• Approved a modification to the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) censure notice attached to individual ads placed on the AHA job site to read "The administration of this institution is on the AAUP censure list."
• Endorsed a letter from the Association for Slavic, Eastern European, and Eurasian Studies to Sergey I. Kislyak, ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United States, raising concerns about a new Russian law requiring nongovernmental organizations to register as "foreign agents."
• Approved a statement declaring that the American Historical Association will not accept an author processing charge in its journal publications.
• Approved an increase in the size of the American Historical Review Board of Editors from 12 to 13.
• Approved the appointment of new members to the American Historical Review Board of Editors: Herman Bennett, CUNY (Theory and Methods); Belinda Davis, Rutgers Univ. (Modern Europe, Central); Jan Plamper, Univ. of London, Goldsmiths Coll. (Eastern Europe and Russia); Prasannan Parthasarathi, Boston Coll. (South Asia); and Judith Tucker, Georgetown Univ. (Middle East).

This list appeared also on the AHA Today blog.