Dear RSAI Members

Please read the following important information regarding the governance of RSAI and provide feedback as you see fit. This is a call for nominations for the position of Vice-President and President-Elect of RSAI.

1)      RSAI Bylaw 5 describes the selection of the Vice-President of RSAI as follows:

a. The RSAI President shall be elected by the Council for a two-year-term and confirmed by a vote of the entire active membership of the Association. To canvass suitable candidates for nomination, the Council establishes a “Nomination Committee” comprising the RSAI President, the RSAI Immediate Past-President, three members of RSAI Council (one each from among the council members who are appointees of the three superregional organizations), and two members of the Long Range Planning Committee (LRPC) recommended by the LRPC itself.

 b. Criteria of the nominees. The nominees should satisfy the following criteria: a) financial resources sufficient to cover travel costs to perform RSAI duties; b) support from candidate’s institution including release of duties to enable President to travel as needed to conduct RSAI business; c) RSAI Council experience (Council member experience) and/or other service to the regional science community (e.g., superregional and/or other sections, editor of one of the regional science journals, etc.).

 c. The President Elect nomination committee shall be formed no later than the first year of the two-year term of the President and make a recommendation to Council at the second Council meeting of this same year. Upon receiving this recommendation, Council will select a nominee, who shall be confirmed by a vote of RSAI members no later than the end of the calendar year. The President-Elect and Vice-President shall start his/her appointment at the start of the next calendar year (i.e. the second year of the current President’s term).

2)    Duties and responsibilities of the RSAI President and Vice-President are defined as follows in the RSAI Constitution:

a. President. The President of RSAI represents the Association and is responsible for its business. The President is a regular, voting, and working member of the Council. The presidency is not a ceremonial position. The President shall serve a two-year term of office, succeeding to the position immediately upon completion of a term of office as Vice-President and President-Elect. The President shall provide active and aggressive leadership in the areas of program and policy development. During the initial year of implementation of this Constitution, the existing President of the Regional Science Association shall assume the duties of President of RSAI and shall subsequently succeed to the position of Immediate Past-President, as specified in paragraph c below.

b. Vice-President and President-Elect. The President-Elect of RSAI acts as the Vice President. He/she is a regular, voting, and working member of the Council. The President-Elect shall serve a one-year term of office, which shall be followed immediately by a two-year term as President. The Vice-President and President-Elect shall act for the President in the President's absence.

The President is expected to take a leadership role in establishing new sections of RSAI around the world and nurturing regional science scholarship and institutions around the globe in consultation with its constituting associations and organizations. The candidate must therefore be prepared to travel extensively around the world.

3)      A Nomination Committee was formed by RSAI Council at the Saint Petersburg, Russia meeting (August 2014). This Committee is composed of Jean-Claude Thill (Chair), Yoshiro Higano, Roberta Capello, Bob Stimson, Jouke Van Dijk, Yuzuru Miyata, and Eduardo Haddad. The Committee is now soliciting nominations for the position of Vice-President and President-Elect from all current RSAI members. Nominations will be accepted until October 5, 2014;

4)      From the list of nominees suggested by any RSAI members, the Nominations Committee will make a recommendation to RSAI Council at its Washington DC meetings on November 14, 2014.

5)      The President-Elect will serve as Vice-President of RSAI in 2016, and will become President of RSAI on January 1, 2017 for a two-year term.

6)    It has been a tradition of RSAI to rotate the Presidency between the three super-regions, namely the Pacific, the Americas, and Europe. Continuing this tradition, we will be looking to appoint a regional scientist affiliated with the PRSCO and be based in one of the countries of the Pacific Rim to succeed Andres Rodriguez-Pose, United Kingdom.

7)     Those who want to nominate a candidate should do so by sending an email message to Jean-Claude Thill, RSAI President and Chair of the Nomination Committee at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  before October 5, 2014. The nomination should consist of a single Word document or PDF including a brief justification and statement of the nominee’s credentials and qualifications, the RSAI section and contact information of the nominee. Self-nominations will not be accepted. Nomination emails should have “Nomination to RSAI VP” in the subject line.