Changes in Leadership and Leadership Structure Result From the Spring 2021 Membership Meeting of DGT Alumni Association

By Gil Gerald

A new Twenty-first Century Generation of DGT Alumni is targeted for increased participation in the governance of DGTAA

By acclamation, members in attendance at the May 1 Quarterly Membership Meeting of DGT Alumni Association (DGTAA) elected Mike Neiman of Newtown, CT to the position of Secretary, and also elected John Pagan of Rochester, NY to the newly created position of Recording Secretary. Neiman is a 1967 Pratt graduate in Food Science and Management. John Pagan graduated from the School of Architecture in 1971. The position of Recording Secretary is one of two new Board seats established during the meeting with ratification as a Bylaws change to occur at a second reading of the motion at the next quarterly meeting which is scheduled for July 31, 2021. The other newly created Board seat is for a Member-at-Large. By consensus reflected in the discussion in support of the motion, members agreed to target the seat to be filled by individuals who are among recent graduates of the Gallery House Program, and preferably with training in Communications Design. There was agreement that the position of Secretary had become burdensome given the responsibilities involved. These included duties as an officer such as being a signatory on official documents, recordkeeping, corresponding, maintaining the organization’s electronic database of its members, acknowledging donations, and serving as administrator of DGTAA’s website and social media sites on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. With the election of Neiman and Pagan, Gil Gerald (author of this article) of Cathedral City, CA retires from service as a Board Member and will no longer serve in that capacity for the first time since January, 2012. He does, for the time being remain President of the DGT Foundation, the tax-exempt non-profit arm of DGTAA and a member of the House Restoration and Renovation Committee. The current 2021 Board of DGTAA now includes Tom Fiorella, of Brooklyn, NY as President, Asa Maria Camnert of Norrtalje, Sweden as Vice President, Tom Wong of River Edge, NJ as Treasurer, Mike Neiman of Newtown, CT as Secretary, John Pagan of Rochester, NY as Recording Secretary, and Anne Marie Michael of Pompton Lakes, NJ as Sargent-at-Arms. The seventh position is scheduled to be filled by election at the upcoming July meeting. Members interested in running for that position should contact tfiorella@dgtaa.org.