This has been an active year in the ARPAS Organization and I am very grateful to have served as your President. I need to give special thanks to our Executive Committee, especially our Executive Vice President, Dr. Kenneth Cummings for his excellent guidance and thorough attention to all the minute by minute and day to day activities of this organization. I also want to thank the rest of the Governing Council for their hard work and clear vision for moving ARPAS forward. We need to thank and recognize Jeremy Holzner, with FASS for all the work he does administratively for ARPAS. His work on our website, online voting, and the ability to pay dues and update continuing education credits online makes our time more efficient. There are many other individuals that I want to personally thank and appreciate all of you who are responsible for accelerating our pace toward accomplishing many of the goals stated in our recent Strategic Plan. 

A few details that deserve mention include first our financial health. ARPAS continues to be strong fiscally with a good amount of reserves and a growing foundation. We owe a huge debt to Dr. Carl Hunt for his careful management of our Treasury. Our only concern is that membership is declining slightly due to consolidation and retirements and dues are not keeping pace with inflation. At the same time the quality of our programs continues to improve with another excellent Symposium planned, continued quality publications in the Professional Animal Scientist Journal, and several other activities that ARPAS continues to support. Our Board Certified College continues to recognize and certify worthy candidates. The list of continuing education opportunities that we all voluntarily participate in is impressive. The latest science that gets published in our Professional Animal Scientist Journal is a real value to all of us in our daily lives.

It is also gratifying to see the increased activity related to using the ARPAS exam as an assessment tool. Steve Schmidt, Chair of our Examination Committee has done a great job ironing out numerous details that will allow this to happen at many of the Animal Science Departments in the US. We have also seen increased activity of our two newest and now very strong local chapters in the Northeast and Midwest. Like all good organizations most of the paradigm changes occur at the local level. The California chapter continues to promote the Animals Sciences Profession and has recently produced a high quality marketing video about ARPAS. 

ARPAS stands tall internationally and has received a proposal from our Sister Organization in Nigeria to help form the World Organization for Animal Husbandry. Many of us that are in the Animal Sciences to help do our part in feeding the world take great pride in seeing this effort gain steam. 

It is amazing to see the vision that the ARPAS founders had over 25 years ago continue to become reality. The code of ethics that we agree to guides in the way we deliver objective and unbiased science based solutions to our clients. The recognition of Distinguished Professional Animal Scientist Awards to deserving recipients is an enjoyable activity of all of our members. And our support of organizations like PAACO, ADSA, ASAS, AMSA, ESS, PSA, and NRCS helps to support the entire Animal Sciences Industry. 

Thank you again for the opportunity to serve as your ARPAS President. I look forward to seeing many of you at the Joint Animal Meetings. Again, I want to personally thank each of you for all your contributions to our organization. I also want to thank President Elect, Dr. Mike Galyean in advance for his future leadership. I look forward to working with all of you in my next role as Past President and if I ever be of any other help at all please do not hesitate to call on me.

Warm regards,
Bill Sanchez, Ph.D., Dipl. ACAN
Diamond V
President, ARPAS