I am posting the following message to the list at the request of Colin
Blakemore, Chairman of the BA Council.
LS
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Dear Colleagues,

It's good to see so much interest in the question of who will succeed Peter
Briggs as Chief Executive of the BA when he moves to become Pro-Rector of
the University of Surrey at Roehampton. Clearly this is an appointment of
general significance for science communication in Britain, so, in the
interests of transparency (and to set the record straight on possible
misconceptions), I thought that I should let you all know what has been done
and what is yet to do.

Peter will not leave the BA until after the annual Festival in Leicester in
September. Nevertheless, we have to move promptly in order to have his
successor in post for a modest period of overlap.

The Council of the BA set up a committee to make this appointment,
consisting of myself, Derek Smart, Michael Sheasby (Treasurer of the BA) and
Lorelly Wilson (all members of Council). Between us we represent the
Executive, the Council, the Treasury, the Sections and Branches, and the
Young People's Programme. In addition, we have co-opted to the committee
Eric Albone, another member of Council, and Helen Haste from Bath University
and a former Section President.

The Council authorized the employment of an executive recruitment agency to
help with the search. We interviewed three companies and appointed Charity
and Fundraising Appointments (CfA), which specializes in executive
appointments in the not-for-profit sector. The post was widely advertised,
with a closing date for applications of 18 February. There were 66
applications from which a long-list of 11 candidates has been prepared, all
of whom have had extensive interviews with Myra Farnworth of CfA. The BA
appointment committee will meet to prepare the shortlist on 27 March and
will conduct the final interviews on 15 April.

Anyone who wishes to comment on this process is welcome to write to me
DIRECTLY on [log in to unmask] (not via the Psci-Com list,
please!!).

Best wishes,

Colin Blakemore
Chairman of Council, the BA

Peter Briggs
Chief Executive
the BA
23 Savile Row
London W1S 2EZ
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7973 3054/3065
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7973 3063
www.the-ba.net

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