The new Executive Director of the 55,000 member American Geophysical Union is not a geophysicist or even a scientist but someone with extensive experience running non-profit organizations. This is a departure from practice of all the geoscience professional societies that come to mind.
Former Exec Director Fred Spilhaus took AGU from a little subsection of another organization and over four decades led it to being the largest geoscience society in the world. It can be viewed somewhat like a garage startup by someone or a couple of people with vision and drive, but once successful, the management and leadership requires a much different set of skills.
There is a big difference between the Google that two guys ran from their dorm room, and the giant corporation of today. AGU seems to have embraced that same vision. It's going to be real interesting to see how things change now.
Christine W. McEntee is coming in from a job as Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Institute of Architects. Previously, she was Chief Executive Officer of the American College of Cardiology and its affiliated Foundation. Prior to that she was Executive Vice President of the American Hospital Association.
McEntee's educational training includes a bachelor's degree in nursing from Georgetown University and a master's degree in Health Administration from George Washington University.