ver 50 PSMA members and guests attended the PSMA Annual Meeting, held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Long Beach, CA. The buffet breakfast before the start of the meeting provided attendees an opportunity for networking and reconnecting with colleagues. Outgoing chair Fred Weber officially opened the meeting by welcoming all the attendees and asked each to briefly introduce themselves. Among those present were many of the recipients of the APEC Student Attendance Support provided for the twelfth straight year by IAS, PELS and PSMA.

Following the introductions the Chair's gavel was officially handed off by Fred Weber to Trifon Liakopoulos. Trifon thanked Fred for his service to PSMA and said he was looking forward to the challenge of leading PSMA for the next two years.

After the passing of the gavel the nominees for the open three-year terms to the PSMA Board of Directors were introduced. Votes were collected during the approval of the 2023 Annual Meeting minutes and the election results were announced after a break midway through the meeting. Three board members were reelected to serve a second term:

David Chen
Ajay Hari
Renee Yawger

In addition, Brian Zahnstecher was elected to fill the seat vacated by Tim McDonald who had served two consecutive terms and was not eligible for reelection. Tim has agreed to stay on as Treasurer for the foreseeable future.

Trifon then gave the Chair's Report highlighting the priorities of the incoming Executive Committee including creating a foundation for near- and long-term growth, reviewing and optimizing administrative procedures, supporting APEC, and strengthening our relationship with other organizations including iNEMI, IPC, PELS, EPSMA, ITEC, and CPSS.

As Trifon was concluding his remarks he asked outgoing Chair Fred Weber to present a new award created by the Executive Committee. Fred introduced the Joe Horzepa Lifetime Service Award. The Joe Horzepa Lifetime Service Award was named in honor of long time PSMA Executive Director Joe Horzepa and is intended to honor PSMA members who have served PSMA for at least 10 years and been nominated by a committee led by the PSMA President. The award consists of a large, nickel-plated award with plates to engrave up to 30 recipients which will be kept by the PSMA Administrative Office and updated each year. In addition, each award recipient will receive a smaller award suitable for displaying in their office. Fred said the intention is to present the first recipient of the Joe Horzepa Lifetime Service Award at APEC 2025 to coincide with PSMA's 40th anniversary.

Fred presented the two smaller award options to Joe Horzepa who was honored and flattered to have a lifetime service award named in his honor.

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