omation mbers - Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening

Tony Beugelsdijk and Dave Herold have taken a lot of things about ALA personally over
the years…and we are thankful that they did. It was their personal commitment, faith, and
sweat equity that made our association the practical and productive reality that it is today.
As laboratory technology and automation began to take shape as a professional specialty in
the 1980s, Tony and Dave were among a core group of mavericks that immediately recognized
the need for a neutral organization to deliver information, education, and networking
opportunities for like-minded experts. Early collaborations with Switzerland’s International
Conference on Automation and Robotics eventually led to the U.S.-based Association for
Laboratory Automation.
Neither Tony nor Dave ever doubted that the ALA would be a success -- their personal
determination and can-do attitudes guaranteed it, and the first ALA LabAutomation
Conference launched in San Diego in January 1997. As planned and predicted, the event
and the organization achieved an important balance among a diversity of academic and
commercial interests. ALA paired theory with practice, making it a popular and valuable
resource for scientists and technologists from throughout the U.S. and around the world.
In the process, Tony and Dave’s responsibilities were many: from sorting, packaging, and
mailing 4,000 pounds of printed materials on the floor of Dave’s office; taste testing and
selecting which California wines would be served; clearing their throats and making sales
calls to hundreds of carefully researched and targeted exhibitor prospects; managing the
schedules and requirements of hundreds of speakers and volunteers; to personally
guaranteeing hundreds of thousands of dollars in hotel and convention center contract
commitments. They worked nonstop, often through holidays, and often with help from
their families, friends, and a growing network of interested and enthusiastic volunteers.
As the organization and its events grew, Tony and Dave continued to keep a forward focus.
By 2001, they recognized their original management model did not scale with ALA’s
growth; it had become obsolete. By 2002, they had rectified the situation – an association
management professional was hired to provide experienced leadership; bylaws, policies,
and operating procedures were reconsidered and appropriately rewritten; and the organization
moved from a self-appointed to a member-elected board of directors. It is this change
in the board leadership structure that brings their tenure to an end.
After nearly a decade of faith, hope, and dreams, Tony and Dave will retire from the ALA
Board of Directors in February 2004. They take with them the countless memories,
experiences, and new friends they earned over the years, and they leave behind a legacy
of greater good. They look forward to being lifelong members of ALA, participating in
annual conferences, continuing to serve as members of committees, and hoping that
you’ll join them.
On behalf of all members of the Association for Laboratory Automation, we sincerely
thank Dave and Tony for their leadership. As members of the 2003 ALA Board of Directors,
we look forward to continuing to build on their foundation of excellence…
Peter Grandsard, Ph.D.
Amgen, Inc.
Torsten A. Staab, M.S.,
Dipl. Inform. (FH)
Los Alamos
National Laboratory
Steven D. Hamilton, Ph.D.
Sanitas Consulting
E. Kevin Hrusovsky
Caliper Technologies Corp.
Andrew Zaayenga
TekCel, Inc.
www.labautomation.org
Mark F. Russo, Ph.D.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.
Stephen C. Jacobson, Ph.D.
Indiana University