Dear Commission B Official Member,

This letter signifies the start of the process of election of the incoming Commission B vice-chair, to be appointed at the upcoming URSI General Assembly in Maastricht, August 2002. The enclosed documents 1 - 4 provide the framework for this process. Please read them carefully.

As you will note, the URSI Secretariat uses the term ( Commission B ) " Official member ",where I have previously used the term ( Commission B ) " Representative ". From now on I will conform with the URSI Secretariat usage and address you as " Commission B Official Member " ( with acronym CBOM for convenience ).

In accordance with item 1) of Document 1," Rules and Suggested Procedures for Commission Vice-Chair Elections ", I hereby cordially invite you to nominate candidates for incoming Commission B vice-chair. In presenting the candidate you nominate, use Document 2 " Biographical Details of Candidate Nominated ".

Past experience shows that it is useful for Commission B to be prepared to use a two-step process to arrive at the slate with a small number of candidates, which is to be sent to the URSI Secretariat by 1 April, 2002 ( cf. item 2 of Document 1 ). Also, I think that it is preferable that our slate for the final vote contains two or at most three ( rather than at most four ) names. This would lead to a more focused final vote. Thus, if more than three nominations are received ( we had six on the most recent previous occasion ), the selection of a slate with two or three names is planned to be made through a vote by e-mail by all CBOMs.

In view of the above, I ask you to submit your nominations ( using Document 2 ) to me by e-mail before

This will leave us time for an e-mail vote if required and still enable us to meet the 1 April, 2002 deadline set by the URSI Secretariat. befire being nominated, the candidates should be contacted, so that their willingness to be nominated can be assured.

For the e-mail vote ( if any ) we shall use the same rule as used by URSI for the final hard copy letter vote by ordinary mail, namely that your first choice gets 2 points and your second choice 1 point ( cf. item 3 in Document 1; only the first and second choices get any points ). I will come back later on to these matters.

At the Commission B business meeting in conjunction with the 2001 EMTS in Victoria, Canada in May, we decided to form a Commission B Search Committee ( CBSC ) with Fred Gardiol, David Olver, and Chalmers Butler as members. Regrettably, Fred Gardiol later informed me that he could not participate. Thus, the CBSC consists of David Olver and Chalmers Butler, who will assist me in the process now started.

I trust that you agree that the election of the incoming vice-chair, who will then serve as vice-chair 2002-2005, and who is expected to step in as chair for the period 2005-2008, is a matter of the greatest importance for Commission B. Thus, I hope you will give the matter all the attention it deserves.

With best wishes,

Staffan Ström

Chair, Commission B of URSI.