Once again, due to the ongoing pandemic, there was no in-person IMS Annual Meeting this year, as it was due to be held at the Joint Statistical Meetings in Seattle, which became a virtual conference. This meant that the IMS meetings that would normally have taken place there were held online instead, including the handover of the IMS Presidency from Regina Liu [below left] to Krzysztof Burdzy [below right].

At the online Council meeting, Regina summarized some of the milestones of the past year: the IMS Grace Wahba Award and Lecture; the formalizing of the IMS New Researchers Group; the ACM/IMS Journal of Data Science, inaugural issue in 2022; the Committee on Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (report coming soon); the updated IMS eNews (formerly IMS e-Bulletin) monthly email; the survey of the membership, whose findings were reported in the August Bulletin. 

Among ongoing efforts, Regina mentioned the formation of a task force to broaden the appeal and enhance the prestige of IMS Special Lectures, the creation of an Outreach Committee, and a proposed IMS e-Library. 

Once the presidential gavel was virtually passed, incoming President Chris Burdzy expressed his gratitude to his predecessors Susan Murphy and Regina Liu, and his successor Peter Bühlmann. Outgoing Program Secretary Ming Yuan, and outgoing editors Karen Kafadar, Richard Samworth, Francois Delarue, and Peter Friz were also thanked. 

Chris Burdzy encourages your input in IMS matters: please reach out via president@imstat.org if you have any thoughts or questions!