JULY 2007 - TOPICS

Short News Obituary: Simos Ichtiaroglou The 8th Hellenic Astronomical Conference Meeting of the Governing Council of Hel.A.S. Upcoming Astronomy meetings in Greece About this Newsletter

1. SHORT NEWS

We would like to congratulate Dr. Stavros Avgoloupis, who was recently promoted to a Professor at the Department of Primary Education of the University of Thessaloniki. We would like to congratulate Dr. Kostas Kokkotas, the vice-president of Hel.A.S., who was recently elected to a Professor at the Department of Physics of the University of Thessaloniki. We would like to congratulate Dr. Andreas Zezas (Center for Astrophysics, Harvard University, USA), who was recently elected as an Assistant Professor of Observational Astrophysics at the Department of Physics of the University of Crete.

2. OBITUARY: SIMOS ICHTIAROGLOU

Simos Ichtiaroglou, an Associate Professor at the Department of Physics of the University of Thessaloniki and founding member of Hel.A.S., passed away on June 20, 2007 at the age of 57 from a heart attack. Prof. Ichtiaroglou was born in Thessaloniki. He obtained his B.Sc. in Physics as well as his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Thessaloniki. His scientific interests included the study of Hamiltonian dynamical systems and Integrability. He is survived by his wife and two daughters. Our thoughts are with them and his immediate family.

3. THE 8th HELLENIC ASTRONOMICAL CONFERENCE

We wish to remind all Hel.A.S. members who plan to attend the 8th Conference of Hel.A.S. that they should start making arrangements for their accomodation at the island of Thassos. Information on the available options can be found in the Conference web page at: http://www.ee.duth.gr/hac/

4. MEETING OF THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF Hel.A.S.

On June 12 2006 the Governing Council (GC) of HelAS held via teleconference a meeting to discuss various issues related to the organizational matters of the Society, along with the developments on the upcoming Hel.A.S. Conference in Thassos. One of the topics discussed was the request by a number of members to terminate their Hel.A.S. membership, as well as the situation with members who no longer fulfill the membership criteria, as these are stated by the Constitution. The GC decided unanimously to follow the procedures and remove all those members (a total of 32) from the Society. This brings the current number of Hel.A.S. members to 246. The next General Assembly of the Society will be informed of these changes by the Secretary. All members are strongly encouraged to review the minutes of this GC meeting which are available online at: http://www.helas.gr/events/GC_12Jun07.pdf If was also clarified by the GC that the due date for the payment of the annual membership fee of a given year is the 1st of September of that same year. Consequently, the annual membership fee for 2007 is due on September 1st 2007.

5. UPCOMING ASTRONOMY MEETINGS IN GREECE

The following meetings will take place in Greece. Please check the corresponding web page or contact the organizers by e-mail for more information.

X-ray Surveys: Evolution of Accretion, Star-formation and Large Scale Structure Rhodes Island, 2 - 6 July 2007 8th Hellenic Astronomical Conference Thasos Island, 13 - 15 September 2007 Chaos in Astronomy Athens, 17 - 20 September 2007 Solar Extreme Events 2007 International Symposium: Fundamental Science and Applied Aspects Athens, 24 - 27 September 2007 5th Conference of Greek Amateur Astronomers Patras, 5-7 October 2007

6. ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER

This Newsletter was sent to all members of Hel.A.S. who have e-mail access. The next edition of the Newsletter will be mailed around August 1st 2007. Please send your announcements (e.g. appointments/departures, job openings, research opportunities, awards, conferences in Greece) or comments before July 25, 2007. If you do not wish to receive future issues of this Newsletter or the e-mail address to which it was sent is not your preferred one, please inform the Secretary of Hel.A.S.