A New Season
Richard E. Mikels, Chair,
Board of Regents
and vetting next year’s inductees. As a Red Sox fan, my sense of anticipation reminded me of what I feel on “Truck Day”. That occurs at the end of winter when the trucks carrying Red Sox equipment leave Fenway Park for spring training in Florida. I know I am filled with great expectation every “Truck Day”. A new baseball season will finally begin. The induction ceremony is such a time for those of us on the Board of Regents as we look forward to the process that will lead to the induction of Class 29.1
The process will include eleven Circuit Regents, one for each judicial circuit and three at-large Regents. Each Circuit Regent chairs a Circuit Council.
The Regents are: Michael J Goldberg (1st Cir.), Dennis F. Dunne (2nd Cir.), David B. Stratton (3rd Cir.), Richard L. Wasserman (4th Cir. and D.C. Cir.), Berry D. Spears (5th Cir.), Taft A. McKinstry (6th Cir.), Kenneth J. Malek (7th Cir.), David A. Warfield (8th Cir.), Thomas E. Patterson (9th Cir.), Kenneth L. Cannon II (10th Cir.), Sarah Robinson Borders (11th Cir.), Timothy R. Coleman (At-large), Hon. Jeffery P. Hopkins (At-large), and Professor Ingrid Michelsen Hillinger (At-large).
In addition we have two Nominating Committees; the Judicial Nominating Committee chaired by Daniel A. Zazove and the International Fellows Nominating Committee chaired by Hon. Charles G. Case. Approximately 100 Fellows will participate directly in the process of choosing new Fellows by serving on the Board of Regents, the Nominating Committees and the Circuit Councils. This requires a major time commitment for everyone involved and we are grateful for the immense efforts of so many Fellows.
We encourage all Fellows to be involved. You have all received material from the College, and a letter from me, inviting you to participate in the process. You have also been provided with instructions for how to do so. Nothing is more important to the future of the College than insuring that the best insolvency professionals are made part of our organization. I encourage you to contact your Circuit’s Regent to discuss any recommendations you have. Recommendations from Fellows from other Circuits are also welcome and encouraged, as are recommendations to the International Fellows Nominating Committee and the Judicial Nominating Committee.
Submissions by Fellows are due on, or before, June 9, 2017. While you are thinking about potential candidates for Class 29, we note that the College is under-represented by women and minorities. We also would be pleased to see younger professionals among those considered for Class 29. If you are aware of professionals that fall into this category, please bring their names to the attention of the appropriate Regent or Chair of a Nominating Committee.
The College can only induct a limited number of candidates each year, even though many more may be qualified. The Board of Regents assesses the excellence of a candidate’s skills and accomplishments. We also consider how the candidate has contributed to our field and within their communities. Writing, teaching, speaking, community service and charitable endeavors are important criteria for becoming a Fellow. In addition to all of the above criteria, the Regents strive to admit only candidates with the highest standards of ethics and professionalism.
A summary of the process for this year is described below (subject to some variation among the circuits):
• The first step, as discussed above, is to identify qualified candidates.
• Fellows will participate in preparing the applications that provide the information that the Circuit Councils and Nominating Committees will need to make their nominations.
• The applications must contain detailed information about each candidate, including
For the Board of Regents, the induction ceremony held in March, 2017, for Class 28, was a wonderful conclusion to the process that brought the College 30 new Fellows. It also was the beginning of a new season of identifying
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1Of course, we have a better winning percentage than the Red Sox.