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Patron: Her Majesty the Queen
Patron: Her Majesty the Queen
Annual General Meeting and 8th Meeting of the 192nd Session of the Royal Scottish Society of Arts
MINUTES of the ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING held on Monday 24th June 2013 at 7pm in the Augustine Church, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh.
The President, Professor Ian Robson, opened the meeting in the presence of some 40 Fellows.
Apologies for absence were received from Dr Dick Burtles, Sheila Burtles, Brigadier Ian Gardiner, Professor Stuart Monro, Dr Alison Morrison-Low, Dr Heather Salzen and Neil Short.
Minutes of the 2012 AGM held Monday 25th June 2012 at 6.30pm in the Augustine Church, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh were circulated and were approved as a correct record of the meeting on the motion of Graham Rule and seconded by Dr Allen Simpson.
The President stated his aims to standardise reporting to Fellows and to have all major information of the year held in one place for future reference, which he hoped would provide a useful template for future Presidents. He reported that Council"s key activities of the session had been to (i) create a Society strap-line, this being RSSA: showcasing Scotland"s Science, Technology and Innovation (ii) bring the rules of the Society up-to-date (iii) normalise the Society"s medals (iv) revisit the case for Honorary Fellows (v) continue the drive for recruitment, especially for young people. The outstanding item of work remains the public face of the Society in terms of the revision of the web-pages. Changes in circumstances and Charity regulations had necessitated a number of changes being made to the Rules, which have been agreed by Council and the President thanked Graham Rule for his tireless work in this matter.
Eight public lectures, covering a wide range of topics, were given in the session, all of which were of an extremely high standard. The President was pleased to announce that all the meetings for the next session were already organised and that three excursions had been planned for the summer, two of which had already taken place.. The Societies Prize and medal for the best Highers student in Technological Studies was awarded to Euan Walker from Marr College in Troon at the Science in the Parliament event in November 2012.
Council had agreed to approach four outstanding individuals who are either Scottish or work in a Scottish establishment to offer Honorary Fellowships in recognition of their major contributions to their fields. All four readily accepted. They are Professor John Brown, Professor Stephen Salter, Professor Peter Higgs and Professor Anne Glover. Membership numbers stood at 178, with an encouraging trend of only one person resigning and 12 new Fellows being welcomed into the Society. The meetings were all well attended and the average meeting size stood at 45. During the year one death was recorded, that of John Galt. The President thanked Council for all their work during the session and stated two major goals for the coming sessions: to work with the secretary and webmaster in revamping the web-pages of the Society and to oversee an orderly transition to a new President at the end of the session.
The Treasurer was pleased to announce that the Society remained solvent and that investments had done better this year. Running costs were roughly consistent with one grant of £1000 being given to Dr Jonathan Delafield- Butt for a conference in Child Development and Health. Funds of £93,000 were currently invested with a stockbroker and £28,000 in a fixed rate bank account. The Treasurer reported that one of her goals for the next session would amalgamate a number of small grants and bequests that the Society has accumulated over the years, an approach that appears to have the support of OSCR. The accounts were approved on the motion of Dr Richard Kimberlin and seconded by Dr Richard Philip and signed off by the President.
The election of Professor John Brown, Professor Anne Glover, Professor Peter Higgs and Professor Stephen Salter was proposed by Professor Ian Robson, seconded by Dr Diana Brown and approved unanimously by a show of hands.
This was proposed by Dr Allen Simpson, seconded by Dr Richard Philip and approved unanimously by a show of hands.
The Council recommended that Dr Alison Morrison-Low be elected as a Vice President and Kyle Arnot as a Councillor. This was proposed by Graham Rule, seconded by Alexander Kirkwood and approved unanimously by a show of hands.
There being no other business, the President closed the meeting, which was followed by a talk by a Fellow of the Society, Dr Beverly Bergman on "Scottish Pioneers of Military Medicine".
Dr Jane Ridder-Patrick, Secretary
secretary@rssa.org.uk
Telephone: 0131 556 2161
The Royal Scottish Society of Arts is Registered Scottish Charity SC015549