President's Message

We continue to live through a unique experience in history. Out of concern for each other, we have voluntarily participated in essentially shutting down economic activities across the globe. We have discovered the interdependencies and precariousness of our lives and livelihoods. We have learned who and what is essential or important and have simplified our lives. We have realized the virtue of patience and self-kindness as we navigate the tremendous challenges of working from home and balancing our work obligations and family needs.

I am writing this column on the first official day of spring while “sheltering in place” in Northern California. In these uncertain times, we are all experiencing the anxiety that comes from an unpredictable situation that we do not control; the shock of seeing, perhaps for the first time, all of the shelves in grocery stores empty; and the stress of working, living, and sleeping in the same place.

I have made a concerted effort in my previous editorials to cover topics that embrace our humanity and diversity and touch on issues of social value, the environment, the universe, our history, and science. In it all, I hope that you were able to see the reach and impact of our discipline into the depths of our existence.

Many of us marveled in awe in March 2018 at the sight of the Ghana teacher who, using colored chalk, drew on his blackboard a snapshot of how an open window of the Microsoft Word software would look like on the screen of a computer...