The Meteoritical Society: Business from 2023 to 2024

Abstract

The Meteoritical Society had an active and productive 2 years from 2023 to 2024. The society is very healthy, with membership the highest it has been in the last decade and with strong financial resources. Highlights included holding the annual meeting in 2023 in Los Angeles, United States, and in 2024 in Brussels, Belgium. Other notable activities included recognizing member achievements with society awards, supporting the society's publications, and enabling the work of the society's committees. All activities of the Meteoritical Society are possible due to the service of members. Here, we summarize the business of the Meteoritical Society from 2023 to 2024 and acknowledge many members and their contributions.

Council met roughly every 2 months to handle the business of the society, with five virtual 2-h meetings and one in-person meeting each year, with the in-person meeting held the Sunday prior to the annual meeting for roughly 5 h (Figure 1). Council was very active, with 43 votes in 2023 and 52 votes in 2024, as recorded in the minutes. Along with the posted minutes from each council meeting, a monthly newsletter was distributed to members via email by the President and the Secretary and posted and archived on the Meteoritical Society website.

At the end of 2023, the Meteoritical Society numbered 1083 members, and at the end of 2024, the society numbered 1198 members. In both years, members represented slightly over 50 different countries, with the breakdown of membership by continent being roughly: 46% North America; 35% Europe; 13% Asia; and about 2% for each of Africa, Australia, and South America. Total membership is the highest it has been within the last decade.

Table 1 provides the membership rates, which were the same for both 2023 and 2024, and the break down by membership category for each year. Early career members are defined as anyone within 10 years of completing their PhD or last degree. Low-income country memberships are for members residing in the countries on the Development Assistance Committee list of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development who are eligible for Official Development Assistance.

From 2023 to 2024, the Society's finances continued to be on sound footing, with both the Operating Fund and Investment Fund in very healthy condition over the 2-year period. The Operating Fund supports the yearly activities of the society, which amounted to roughly ~$300,000 in revenue and expenses each year. The Investment Fund is currently distributed across six endowed funds, three of which support awards (the Nier Prize, the Gordon A. McKay Award, and the Elmar K. Jessberger Award). Two funds support member travel to annual meetings: The Travel for International Members (TIM) Fund supports travel for members from low-income countries, while the O. Richard Norton Fund supports travel for early career scientists. The largest fund is the General Endowment Fund, which supports a variety of projects, research grants, and travel to annual meetings. At the end of 2024, the balance of the Investment Fund was roughly $2.6 million. The Meteoritical Society filed yearly taxes as a non-profit organization in the state of California.

On the recommendation of the Endowment Committee, the management of the Investment Fund was transferred to DA Davidson in the fall of 2022. Following that transfer, the Endowment Committee explored options for ethical/sustainable investing with the DA Davidson fund manager, Andrew Crowell. At the annual meeting in Los Angeles, council voiced their support for more sustainable investing and asked the Endowment Committee to submit a formal proposal. In the fall of 2023, the Endowment Committee recommended that the society transfers $200,000 from the current investment fund into the Blackrock environmental, social, and governance (ESG) multi-asset fund. Council unanimously approved this proposal, and the new fund was opened in January of 2024. The Endowment Committee reviews the performance of the investment fund every quarter. The committee will assess the performance of the Blackrock ESG fund following 1 year of investment and make further investment recommendations.

Based on the 2023 report of the Audit Committee, council discussed the size of the investment fund and its use to benefit members and further the goals of the society. The society's bylaws state that 5% of the general endowment fund's value can be allocated for spending each year. However, in recent years, during and following the pandemic, the endowment committee opted to allocate 4% for spending, in accordance with investing guidelines. With a healthy investment fund and stable financial outlook, council opted to increase the annual spending rate to 5%. In June 2024, the start of the Meteoritical Society Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25), the Endowment Committee was planning to allocate up to 4% of the general endowment fund for grants and 1% for early career travel awards. In FY25, this amounted to $73,100 and $18,300, respectively. The Endowment Committee Section below provides the details of the projects supported by the general endowment fund, as recommended by the Endowment Committee.

As this summary shows, the years of 2023–2024 were a busy and active time for the Meteoritical Society. This summary also clearly shows that it is the willingness of members to give their time and effort to serve the Meteoritical Society that makes the society run and makes all of our activities possible. We greatly appreciate the many (>100) members listed in this summary, who contributed to Meteoritical Society activities during the last 2 years. It has been our privilege and honor to serve as the Executive Committee during this time (Figure 11). We have enjoyed the opportunity and are grateful to be part of a society with such impressive, supportive, and generous members. The Meteoritical Society was established in 1933, and we are pleased to be handing it off to the next Executive Committee in a position to continue to be successful for years to come.