Starting 31 August through 1 November 2011 12:00 PM ET, voting membership of the IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES) will have the opportunity to elect our future leadership. The offices of president-elect, secretary, and treasurer for the period 2012–2013 will be decided. The candidates, nominated by the PES Nominations and Appointments Committee chaired by past President Wanda Reder and approved by the Governing Board, are presented together with their photos, bios, and candidate statements.

Voting members of the Power & Energy Society may, by petition, propose names to be added to the ballot for these offices. Details for this procedure and qualifications for proposed candidates may be found in the PES Bylaws. To be eligible for nomination to the office of president-elect, the nominee shall have served as a member of the PES Governing Board in some capacity for at least two years. Detailed information is available at http://www.ieee-pes.org/about-pes/governance-documents. Further details will follow in ensuing e-Newsletters and in IEEE Power & Energy Magazine.

PES President-elect

Miroslav M. Begovic
Miroslav Begovic (Student Member 1987, Member 1989, Senior Member 1992, Fellow 2004) received his B.S.E.E. and M.S.E.E. degrees from Belgrade University and a Ph.D. from Virginia Tech. He is a professor of electrical and computer engineering and chair of the Electric Energy Technical Interest Group at Georgia Institute of Technology. He was actively involved in IEEE PES technical committees, serving for over 20 years as working group chair and a member of numerous working groups in the Power System Relaying Committee and as active member and chair of the PES Emerging Technologies Coordinating Committee. He also served the PES in various administrative positions, among them as chair of the Atlanta Chapter (the largest Chapter in the US), chair of Student Activities in Power Engineering Education Committee, secretary of the Meetings Department, chair of the Constitution and Bylaws Committee of the PES Governing Board from 2006 and as a Society treasurer from 2010.

Statement: After over two decades of active engagement in the PES technical committees and administrative service, it is my great pleasure to accept the honor of nomination for president of PES. If given the privilege of serving, I would first support the Governing Board, Executive Office and President Noel Schulz as president-elect. My objective would be to formulate the strategic goals and identifying means and ways of the Society for the subsequent term. The challenges which I would like to focus on as president are:

• To sustain and rejuvenate the PES membership base by supporting the newly introduced scholarship program, Graduates Of the Last Decade (GOLD) program and various Chapter activities;
• To expand and improve the career, networking and educational opportunities to PES global membership;
• To continue the stewardship of the Society finances in the difficult economic times through support of the quality revenue generating activities and judicious monitoring of the expenditures.

Mohammad Shahidehpour
Mohammad Shahidehpour is Bodine Chair Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department and Director of the Galvin Center for Electricity Innovation at Illinois Institute of Technology. He serves on the Governing Board of the IEEE Power and Energy Society as VP of Publications. He was an Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Power Systems and is the Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid. He has served on the organizing Committee of the IEEE Innovative Smart Grid Conference since its inception and is the General Chair of the 2012 Conference which will be held in Washington. He is the member of the Editorial Board of the IEEE Power and Energy magazine and has served as Guest Editor of the magazine’s special issues since 2006. He served on the Administrative Council of the IEEE PES Power System Operation Committee, was the Chair of the Committee in 2007-2009, and received the Committee’s Distinguished Service Award in 2009. Dr. Shahidehpour is the recipient of the 2011 Innovation Award from the Association of Electrical Engineering Department Heads. He was the recipient of 2009 Honorary Doctorate from the Polytechnic University of Bucharest, 2008 IEEE PES Best Transactions Paper Award, and 2007 IEEE Burke Hayes Award for his research on hydrokinetics. He is an Honorary Professor at North China Electric Power University in Beijing and Sharif University of Technology in Tehran. Dr. Shahidehpour is the author of several books and journal papers on electric power systems including a book published in 2003 on communication and control in electric power systems. As an IEEE Distinguished Lecturer, he has lectured in several countries on electricity restructuring issues. He is an IEEE Fellow.

Statement: I have been a member of IEEE PES for 33 years and witnessed great evolutions in our Society’s publications, membership, and outreach. As President, I will further promote a global culture, which will allow PES to expand its vision to identify and fulfill the needs of its members throughout the world.

However, I will also strive to maintain our dedicated service to the North American members who represent the core membership of PES. I will strengthen the PES position as a leader among IEEE Societies by offering additional joint conferences and publications in areas of mutual interest. I will enhance the role of Technical Council and work closely with technical committees to promote emerging topics as our core identity in power and energy and to distinguish PES as a major player in those topics. I will promote the role of PES as a global leader in power and energy by working closely with our chapters throughout the world to offer lectureship, seminars, and conferences on timely topics that would attract additional membership to IEEE PES.

PES Secretary

Christopher E. Root
Christopher E. Root (Student ’83, Member ’85, Senior Member ’05) is senior vice president of Customer Operations for National Grid. He has a history of various utility positions in engineering, including senior vice president of Engineering & Asset Management.

Root is a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Masters in engineering) and Northeastern University (Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering). In 1997, he completed the Program for Management Development of the Harvard University Graduate School of Business. He is a registered professional engineer in the states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. He has served as a Member-at-Large of the PES Governing Board since 2006, Secretary in 2010-11, as well as a member of the PES Long Range Planning Committee. He has authored, co-authored and presented papers at various IEEE forums and was active in the renewal of the Boston Chapter of PES. He is also a member of the Editorial Board of Power & Energy Magazine.

Statement: As Secretary for the last year, I have become familiar with the PES board's workings and important improvements the Society has been going through. We continue to grow with new members and continue to add new resources for members such as two new journals, additional smart grid meetings and the use of new delivery methods for education. As a utility executive, I continue to try to bring a practical utility perspective to the board and the society leadership team. I ask for your continued support to represent you as Secretary.

PES Treasurer

Lina Bertling
Lina Bertling (S´98, M´02, SM´08) holds the Chair of Professor in Sustainable Electric Power Systems and is the Head of the Division of Electric Power Engineering, at the Department of Energy and Environment, at Chalmers University of Technology, in Gothenburg, Sweden, since January 2009. She has been with Svenska Kraftnät, i.e. the Swedish Transmission Systems Operator, during 2007-2009, and as a manager of the Research and Development from 2008. She has been with the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), School of Electrical Engineering, in Stockholm, during 1997-2009, where she became Associate Professor in 2008, and finalized her Ph.D. in 2002 on reliability-centered maintenance for electric power distribution systems. She has been visiting researcher at the University of Saskatchewan during the spring semester 2000, and a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto, and associated with Kinectrics Inc. during 2002/2003. Her research interests include the evolution of the electric power systems into Smart Grid and the application of probabilistic methods for reliability analysis and maintenance management. Dr. Bertling is the Chair of the Swedish PE/PEL Chapter, and the Vice Chair of the IEEE PES Subcommittee on Risk, Reliability and Probability Applications (RRPA). She is a member of the Editorial board of the IEEE Transactions of Smart Grid. She was General Chair of the first IEEE PES Innovative Smart Grid Technologies (ISGT) Europe Conference, in Gothenburg, 2010. She has been a member of the IEEE Sweden Section board during 2005-2007. She is a member of the Swedish National Committee of Ciréd and the World Energy Council, and a member of Cigré. She is a member of the Scientific Board of the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) and a Board member of the Swedish Wind Power Center hosted by Chalmers University of Technology. She was featured by the Swedish magazine Veckans Affärer as a super talent 2010.

Statement: The IEEE Power & Energy Society plays a leading role in global development of sustainable energy systems. Technological developments such as those conceptualized as the Smart Grid are crucial. The real difference, however, is made by the people. It is the energy in our network of people that creates miracles. I have found IEEE and PES to be source of energy in my life. For the past thirteen years I have been actively involved in PES, serving on technical committees, editorial boards, leading the Swedish Chapter and organizing international conferences. As PES membership continues to grow at record paces, it becomes ever more crucial that we use our resources wisely. We must balance this growth with programs that are fiscally sustainable in the long run. As Treasurer of PES I would ensure that PES resources are used to maximize the benefit to our members. As a member of the Governing Board, I would work to strengthen PES outside of North America. I would serve PES with joy and pleasure, with support from you!

Jay Giri
Jay Giri is Director of Power Systems Technology & Strategic Initiatives at Alstom Grid in Redmond, Washington. In 1978, he and 11 other engineers co-founded ESCA, which is now part of Alstom Grid. He was the original developer of the ESCA AGC and power system simulation functions of the training simulator. His PhD is from Clarkson University in New York, and his B.Tech is from IIT, Madras.

Since the mid-1970s, Jay has attended at least one IEEE meeting every year, thanks to support from his employers. He has authored many IEEE papers, participated in IEEE panel sessions and local meetings, and been a member of PES committees such as: Long-range planning (LRP), control centers, operations, dynamic performance, restoration, and economics. In 2002, he was elected IEEE Fellow for contributions to the design and implementation of power system control centers.

Jay is an affiliate professor at the University of Washington, an active member of Cigre, PSERC, and IEEE-ISGT, and a member of the executive council and technical committee of PSCC (Europe).

Statement: Since the 1970s, IEEE PES has been part of my professional family, creating many opportunities for personal growth and lifelong friendships. Considering all the benefits I have accrued from IEEE PES, it is only natural to look for opportunities to "pay-it-forward." It is a privilege to be considered for the position of IEEE PES Board Treasurer, and Alstom management fully supports my desire to serve. Experience with ESCA gave me first-hand knowledge of the financial aspects of running a business, which would be valuable in this position.

Our industry faces unprecedented challenges, including new initiatives to make the grid smarter. Ideally positioned to help make definitive progress in these areas, PES can be an unbiased catalyst for interactions such as development of new interoperability standards among diverse industry stakeholders.

A high priority for me is to address the aging workforce problem. PES needs to continue to promote, advocate for, and implement initiatives to help grow our next generation of power engineers.