President's Letter

At ASU, fall always brings the excitement of a new school year. We've welcomed another talented class of freshmen to the university, and our four campuses are abuzz with academic inquiry, use-inspired research and individual excellence.

This issue, we tackle two very relevant topics: the search for sustainable fuels and ASU's role in the development of the business discipline of supply chain management.

With the growing awareness of the costs — financial and environmental — of our petroleum-driven society, social pressure is mounting to find cleaner, cheaper sources of fuels. ASU researchers from a variety of disciplines are developing alternative energy sources to help resolve the problem.

(ASU Magazine continues to take sustainability issues into account; last issue we began printing on paper stock approved by the Sustainability Forest Initiative, and have upgraded this issue to a product that has received the Forest Stewardship Council's Chain of Custody certification.)

Another area where eliminating waste is relevant is in supply chain management. ASU has been at the forefront of the development of this discipline, and W.P. Carey's undergraduate and graduate programs in supply chain/logistics are recently ranked second and third in the nation, respectively, by U.S. News & World Report.

At the Alumni Association, we're using fall's momentum to propel ourselves into an energetic winter and spring in February, we will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of ASU becoming designated as a university with a special issue of ASU Magazine. This issue will be complemented by a special Founders' Day celebration on March 18.

If you would like to join us in this celebration of pride in the accomplishments of the last half-century, please consider joining our association at the Gold Devil life membership level, or upgrading your membership to this elite level.

Christine K. Wilkinson '66, '76 Ph.D.
President, ASU Alumni Association
Senior Vice President and Secretary of the University