September 12, 2018—The Heinlein Society (www.heinleinsociety.org) announced today the results of their recent annual election for the Board of Directors, and the annual reorganization of the Board of Directors and election of officers for the Society’s FY19 (September 2018-August 2019) year.
Meeting on September 9th for their 17th annual meeting of the membership, held online for the fourth year in a row, it was announced that the recent online vote conducted with Simply Voting had resulted in the re-election of Directors Betsey Wilcox and C. Herbert Gilliland, Ph.D., the overwhelming member ratification of Board-appointed Director Walt Boyes (appointed to fill the term of the late Jerry Pournelle, Ph.D. who passed away just after re-election last year), and the return to the Society’s Board of Directors of President Emeritus Mike Sheffield, who served as President and Chairman of the Board of the Society from 2010 to 2014.
Meeting the next evening in its annual reorganization meeting, the Board of Directors elected Vice President-Secretary George E. “Geo” Rule to be the 5th President and Chairman of the Board of the Society since its founding in 1998, C. Herbert Gilliland, Ph.D. to be its new Vice President-Secretary, and John Tilden to continue for a seventh year as Treasurer. Immediate Past President Keith Kato, Ph.D. had informed the Board a year earlier that after nine years on the Board of Directors, four as Vice President-Secretary, and four as President and Chairman, he would not stand for re-election in 2018.
Said President Rule, “Our previous two presidents have left us a great foundation to build upon. Mike Sheffield was the driving force behind the founding of our very successful Scholarships program, and supported the creation of Heinlein For Heroes during his service as President. Dr. Kato lead the Society and ‘Heinlein’s Children’ to the creation and placing of a bronze bust of Robert A. Heinlein in the state capitol building of Missouri in 2016, and leaves service as President with membership in the Society, and Society financial assets, at all-time highs in our 20 year history. The membership recognized him with a well-earned thank you vote by acclamation at our recent annual meeting.”
“It’s my goal to build on their record and lead the Society to its next phase of growth in members and programs”, Rule said. “With John Tilden continuing as Treasurer, the broad and experienced shoulders of Mike Sheffield to lean on, and Dr. Gilliland –who is a long-time member of the Heinlein community, founding Chair of the Heinlein For Heroes program, and a long-time professor of English at the United States Naval Academy who taught the first college-level class on Robert A. Heinlein–, I think we’ve got great senior leadership in place. With the other experienced and dedicated members of the Board, and a new Board of Advisors, I feel confident that even better days are ahead for the Society.”
Rule has served on the Board of Directors of the Society since 2007, and as Vice President-Secretary since 2014. He joined the Society in 2002, and considers himself lucky to have had the opportunity to work with Mrs. Virginia (“Ginny”) Heinlein on Society business in the last year of her life. Rule and his wife, Deb Houdek Rule (herself a past member of the Society’s Board of Directors) are listed as editors on the upcoming graphic novel of Have Space Suit — Will Travel from the Virginia Edition Publishing Company, and have often worked with the Heinlein Prize Trust (a separate organization from the Society who controls most of Robert A. Heinlein’s copyrights) on other projects.
