Council Articulates Vision for APS

Under the leadership of Helen Quinn, who was APS President in 2004, the APS Executive Board and Council devoted a significant part of their meetings last year to discussing long-range issues for the society.

As one element of this activity, the Board and Council developed a vision statement for the APS. It was passed in final form at the November meeting of Council. Quinn remarked that “no one argues about whether APS needs a clear vision for its future. But why do we need a vision statement?

“The exercise helped us discuss and clarify some issues about the roles of APS. The statement stresses the multiple roles that APS must play in order to serve our mission well. It provides a way to communicate  succinctly what these roles are, both to members and staff, and to those outside the society.”

The text of the vision statement follows:

1. Be the leading voice for physics and an authoritative source of physics information for the advancement of physics and the benefit of humanity;
2. Collaborate with national scientific societies for the advancement of science, science education and the science community;
3. Cooperate with international physics societies to promote physics, to support physicists worldwide and to foster international collaboration;
4. Have an active, engaged and diverse membership, and support the activities of its units and members.