I would like to begin my tenure as President of SRNT with a few comments concerning the past, present, and future. SRNT has seen its share of struggles as a young society, struggles born of financial uncertainty, small membership, managing a fledgling journal, and finding its way and identity. Now, though, we have many reasons to be proud and confident. As Ellen Gritz points out in her column, membership has surpassed 1,000. The Society has moved to double its journal volume. We have an excellent management organization, which translates directly into our ability to do more as a Society. We are financially solvent and have some breathing room. The quality of our annual meeting has been steadily improving. There is growing momentum in terms of our global presence and involvement.

At the same time, we face perennial and new challenges. We remain challenged by diversity. We are constantly thinking about how to maintain scientific diversity, yet not shortchange any of our constituents. We cannot be all things to all people all of the time, but we can strive to strike a balance that is likely to be played out over successive annual meetings, which emphasize different scientific strengths. To paraphrase Past-President Ken Warner, we pitch a pretty big tent, and we can all fit in. I find it frankly wonderful and fascinating that we are forced to think about accommodating diverse constituencies ranging from global public health to molecular biological aspects of nicotine addiction, and everything in between and beyond.

We remain challenged by global diversity _ diversity of membership and diversity in the cultures and countries which they represent. Tobacco use is a global challenge and now, more than ever, SRNT is in a position to make a significant and enduring impact by providing our constituents with the tools required to support evidence-based interventions at all levels. Staying true to our mission, we must continue to ensure that SRNT is THE recognized scientific organization that can provide trusted information to all interested parties and stakeholders.

We remain challenged to continue to engage our membership to volunteer for activities within the Society. I am humbled to witness the vigor and capacity of past and present members of our various committees, interest groups, and board. We are, at heart, a volunteer organization, and we rely on each other to make things work and work well. To all those who are interested in participating more in Society activities (and many of you have already expressed such interest), I encourage you to contact me directly.

As for new challenges, one of largest we face is growth. Are we poised to grow larger and, if so, how to we foster/accommodate such growth? Are we content to stay just about where we are? If we grow, would we face sacrifices in quantity and quality of services we provide to our members? These are but some of the questions the board will be considering over the next year and beyond. We welcome any and all comments related to these and other issues which you deem to be of significance.

I would like to end by thanking the various past presidents, board, and committee members with whom I have had the privilege of working with, in particular Ellen Gritz. There is no substitute for working with and learning from the very best. I look forward to continuing to work with Ellen and President-elect, Scott Leischow, the board and committees, and most of all, you, our members, as we move ahead.

Cheers!