This year we saw a change of President to the Association and after five years Professor Ron Martin, University of Cambridge steps down as our President. Ron has worked with Sally Hardy (CEO) for all of the thirty-four years that she has worked for the Association. He has served on the Board in several capacities including the two key roles, firstly of Conference Co-ordinator and secondly as Editor on Regional Studies. Ron has been a true friend to the Association and has shown clear leadership in his Presidential role. His after-dinner provocations at the Annual Conference have always been thought provoking and have often led to action. I’ve always particularly enjoyed his dips into the older literature in the field to reflect on current challenges and thinking. Thank you Ron for your steadfast loyalty to the Association and as with others who come off the Board this year, it is not so much goodbye as au revoir – we hope you won’t go far.
Ron has been replaced in his role by Professor John Agnew, UCLA, USA. John is the founding editor in chief of our journal Territory, Politics, Governance and has been a friend to the Association for many years. We look forward to working with you John and perhaps to more stateside activity during your term.
Professor Agnew commented
I am delighted to participate more formally than has been possible previously in what is my favorite professional organization..
John Agnew is Distinguished Professor of Geography at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where he has taught since 1995. He is a political geographer with interests in European urbanization, the geopolitics of the world economy, place and politics, and territory and governance. His books include “Globalization and Sovereignty: Beyond the Territorial Trap” (2018), (as co-author) “Mapping Populism: Taking Politics to the People” (2019), and (as co-editor) “Handbook on the Geographies of Power” (2018). He was editor-in-chief of the RSA journal “Territory, Politics, Governance” from 2011-19.