AGU's Fred Spilhaus retires

Word from AGU is that long-time Executive Director A.F. (Fred) Spilhaus, Jr. has stepped down after 39 years at the helm of the group. Under Fred's leadership, AGU grew from a small U.S. National Committee of the IUGG to an international organization with over 55,000 members.

An executive who specializes in interim leadership of associations and nonprofits, Robert T. Van Hook, has taken charge as Interim Executive Director.

Van Hook will manage AGU’s day-to-day affairs while the organization conducts a
worldwide search for a successor to Fred, who announced last October that he
would retire.

The search for Spilhaus’s successor is expected to begin in the summer of 2009, and take
from six to 18 months. Van Hook will not be a candidate for the successor executive
director position.

[this was taken from the AGU announcement]