The AAPG House of Delegates approved three of four bylaws changes in votes at its meeting at the AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition in Houston.
With HoD Chair David H. Hawk presiding, delegates rejected the proposal to expand membership classifications and redefine the term “member,” and adding Certified as a member classification.
The measure failed by a 100-80 vote. A two-thirds vote of the house was required.
Delegates approved measures that:
- Extends Student membership to 24 months following termination of academic enrollment.
- Clarified limitations on AAPG Honors and Awards relating to officers, candidates and division presidents.
- Changed 50 words in the bylaws to make them gender neutral – i.e. chairman to chair.
There were 208 delegates certified at the beginning of business to vote on AAPG business, of the 218 delegates potentially eligible for voting privileges.
In addition to a eulogy from the floor for Owen Hopkins and past HoD chair Harry A. Miller (see accompanying article below) Hawk made a special chair’s recognition and presented an award to Houston delegate Dwight M. “Clint” Moore for his services over the years.
Hawk also passed the gavel to Jeff Lund, of Houston, who will assume the House chair on July 1. Lund will preside at the 2012 HoD meeting in Long Beach, Calif.
Delegates also elected Denver independent Robert Randy Ray as chair-elect and David Cook as HoD secretary/editor.
Owen Hopkins, Harry Miller Remembered
The AAPG House of Delegates paused for a moment of silence during its meeting in Houston in memorial respect for past HoD chairman, Harry A. Miller (April EXPLORER) and award-winning member Owen R. Hopkins, who enthusiastically spearheaded projects to introduce geology to school children and teachers.
Hopkins died March 29 in Corpus Christi, Texas, after an illness. He was 63.
Hopkins joined AAPG in 1974 while a master’s student at Tulane University. He previously earned a bachelor’s in geology from the University of Oklahoma.
He worked with Chevron, Holly Energy, Sexton Oil and Harkins & Company, and retired in 2005 as vice president of exploration with Suemaur Exploration to pursue his passion for volunteering to spread the word that “Science is Fun.”
His initiatives included “Maps in Schools,” “Bones in Schools” and “Boulders in Schools,” and resulted in 1,657 geologic maps in elementary schools nationwide, in addition to educating teachers to use maps, fossils and rock samples in their classes.
He was a member of the AAPG House of Delegates and received the AAPG Public Service Award in 2009.