ASA President Nat Schenker led the board through its final meeting of the 175th anniversary year November 14–15, 2014, at the ASA offices in Alexandria, Virginia.

Here are the highlights of the meeting. The board:

—Opened its Saturday session with a moment of silence for Bob Newcomb. A memorial service for Bob was being held later that day in southern California, where Bob served the ASA and area chapters for many decades. Incoming President-elect Jessica Utts and Nat Schenker shared remembrances of Bob.

—Endorsed revised guidelines for the undergraduate curriculum in statistical science, the result of 18 months of effort by a working group chaired by board member Nick Horton.

—Received the report of ASA treasurer Mingxiu Hu on the status of ASA investments, including observations about investment policy. (The ASA’s investments are managed by a professional in accordance with board-approved policy.) The board also heard the third quarter financial report from Steve Porzio, who noted that the ASA’s 2014 net income will be positive.

—Received a wrap-up report on the 175th Anniversary Celebration from steering committee chair Christy Chuang-Stein. She said the committee worked toward the goal of making the celebration something everyone could enjoy, whether or not they attended JSM, and included elements that helped ensure the ongoing success of the ASA. Schenker thanked Christy and the committee for their work, saying the anniversary celebration was an enormous success.

—Began a discussion titled “Recruiting and Retaining the Next 1,000 Members: How to Build a Sustainable Membership Base of at Least 20,000 Members.” Membership retention and recruitment will be a focus of the board during 2015.

—Approved the Hong Kong Statistical Society and Italian Statistical Society as accreditation partners of the ASA. Individuals accredited by such partner societies can receive a fast-track accreditation by the ASA.

—Heard updates by ASA Science Policy Director Steve Pierson on the wide range of advocacy efforts by the ASA, including a discussion of ASA efforts in support of science funding, forensic science, and privacy and confidentiality matters in statistics.

—Heard updates by ASA Director of Education Rebecca Nichols on the ASA’s education efforts, including DataFest, the Statistical Education of Teachers report (due in the spring), the Census at School Program, and the Educational Ambassador Program.

—Welcomed Susan Cantrell, senior vice president and managing director of DIA Americas, who provided an overview of the DIA and opened a discussion about possible collaboration with the ASA.

—Heard an update on the status of the This Is Statistics campaign by Jeff Myers, the ASA’s public relations coordinator, along with Lori Russo and Sarah Litton of Stanton Communications. This national campaign, launched as a major initiative of the 175th anniversary, is off to a great start. The goal is to heighten awareness among high-school and undergraduate students and those who influence them of the great opportunities afforded by careers in statistics. The board also discussed ideas for further advancing this effort during 2015.

—Welcomed Amanda Malloy, the ASA’s new director of development, who gave an overview of the plans for the ASA’s development program. She said the goal is to create a long-term, sustainable development program based on existing and prospective constituencies, with three areas of focus: a membership giving program, major gifts and planned giving, and corporate giving.

—Discussed the status and activities of the committees in the Education Council. These discussions help keep the board and ASA committees operating in sync.

—Heard important reports of the ASA’s sections and chapters from representatives of their respective councils. These entities represent major points of contact for members with their society and provide rich networking and professional development opportunities. The board, at the request of the Council of Sections, had vigorous discussion of the exciting opportunities and challenges associated with the substantial growth in the number of ASA sections.

—Received and accepted the report of the Strategic Plan Review Committee, chaired by Past President Marie Davidian. The annual review of the strategic plan allows the board to evaluate progress in strategic planning and helps ensure the plan stays fresh, dynamic, and relevant.

—Discussed the final report from the Presidential Initiative Workgroup on Developing Training in Statistical Leadership. Janet Buckingham, chair of the workgroup, described the highly successful leadership course offered at JSM and discussed the future of the course, which includes plans to offer it at JSM 2015 and the Conference on Statistical Practice in 2016.

—Decided to discontinue the ASA-SIAM Book Series. The board expressed its gratitude to the people who have worked hard on the series throughout the years.

—Heard news of substantial progress already being made on the various strategic initiatives for 2015. See the President’s Corner in this issue for details.

—Approved policies and procedures for the management of the Center for Statistical Education board-designated fund.

The board’s first meeting of 2015 is March 27–28 at the ASA office in Alexandria, Virginia.