Dear RSAI members,

The yearly NARSC congress, this year organized in Pittsburgh, PA, is quickly approaching and as another exciting Regional Science event is getting nearer I would like to take the chance to update you on three recent changes in the RSAI Council composition.

At the Lyon Council meeting a very important decision has been made. The Council elected Prof. Eduardo Haddad as President Elect of the RSAI. Eduardo will become Vice President as of January 2020, and will work along Prof. Mark Partridge, current RSAI President, for the benefit of the Association. Good luck Eduardo!

The Council also elected a New Treasurer. Our former Treasurer, Prof. Francisco Carballo-Cruz, decided to step down after years of excellent service. The new Treasurer is Prof. Serena Eréndira Serrano Oswald. Serena is current President of LARSA, and has a vast experience in dealing with regional science matters both at national and international level. Welcome on board Serena!

Lastly, right after the ERSA congress in Lyon the deadline for submitting applications for being elected Councillor-at-large expired. We received three excellent candidatures, and the turnover in the electronic ballot has been really impressive, witnessing the great interest of the members in the associational life. The majority of votes went to Daniela Luminita-Constantin, Romania, ERSA. Daniela is a historical and founding member of the Romanian section of the RSAI; she successfully organized a RSAI world congress in Timisoara, in 2012, and we are all excited to have her on board. Welcome Daniela!

I look forward to seeing many of you at some of the next RSAI events. In the meanwhile, I am sure you will join me in congratulating Eduardo, Serena, and Daniela for their forthcoming new endevors.

Andrea Caragliu

Executive Director, Regional Science Association International

Eduardo Haddad

Eduardo A. Haddad is Full Professor at the Department of Economics at the University of Sao Paulo (USP), Brazil, where he also directs the Regional and Urban Economics Lab (NEREUS). He is a Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, Rabat, Morocco.

Eduardo Haddad received his B.A. in Economics from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil, in 1993, and his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Illinois at Urban-Champaign in 1997. In 1998 he held a post-doctoral position at the University of Oxford. He has served as the president of the Brazilian Regional Science Association (2008-2010), and as the first president of the Regional Science Association of the Americas (2008-2010). He was the Director of Research of the Brazilian think tank Institute of Economic Research Foundation (FIPE) from 2005 to 2013. Eduardo has spent the period January 2014 to June 2015 on sabbatical as a visitor at the Department of Economics (International Economics Section) at Princeton University, and at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Public Policy and Planning at Rutgers University. In 2017-2018, he was the Chairman of the Department of Economics at USP. Together with Professor Carlos Azzoni, he founded NEREUS in 2002.

Serena Eréndira Serrano Oswald

Serena is a full-time researcher in the "Culture, Politics and Diversity" Program of the Regional Center for Multidisciplinary Research (CRIM-UNAM).

She published more than thirty refereed publications, has organized 10 congresses at international level and 15 at national level; also, she has participated in 70 national and 45 international congresses.

Her research areas include gender, studies, identity, social representations, culture, motherhood, migration, politics, environment, peace and security, culture and regional development.

She has participated in 11 research projects and worked as a researcher, consultant, workshop worker, therapist and community facilitator, as well as in women's research projects for the pharmaceutical chemical industry. She is the founder of the NGOs Benguna Bee (Female Moon) and Tierra Joven. She is former President of the Mexican Association of Sciences for Regional Development (AMECIDER), and currently chairs the Latin American and Caribbean (LARSA) section of the RSAI.

Daniela Luminita-Constantin

Prof. Constantin is Full Professor of Regional Economics at the Academy of Economic Studies of Bucharest and acts as Director of the Research Centre for Macroeconomic and Regional Forecasting of this university. In 2001, Prof. Constantin has formed together with her colleagues mainly from the Academy of Economic Studies of Bucharest the Romanian Regional Science Association (RRSA). Since 2002 RRSA became member of the European Regional Science Association. In 2012 she coordinated the organization of the 9th World Congress of the RSAI in Timisoara. Daniela will take on her position as of Jan. 1, 2020.