Secretaries and Treasurers

Originally, ESA members elected a President, Vice-President, and Secretary-Treasurer, so this was a combined role. A separate office of Treasurer was created in 1939, but was gradually supplanted by the Business Manager office, created in 1952/54. Transitions in office occur at the annual meeting each year.

“For the first 22 years of its existence, ESA had a combination secretary-treasurer. Recognizing that a degree of continuity was essential to the administration of a young society, these officers were elected for more than one year. Forrest Shreve (1916-1919) and A. O. Weese (1920-1930) carried the Society through its formative (and crucial) years. Shelford (1938) states, “The society was guided and its policies given continuity for the first 16 years of its existence through the unbroken services of these two men whose enthusiasm kept life and progress in the organization while maintaining an unusual harmony because of their kindly and cordial personalities.”
In 1938, the offices were divided, with Orlando Park choosing to remain as secretary and Stanley Cain elected treasurer. This arrangement has persisted to the present, with three- to five-year terms, usually staggered, being the general rule.”
—The Ecological Society of America: Historical Data and Some Preliminary Analyses, by Bob Burgess, ca. 1976