Election of Officers and Governors Nominees Selected

President Jay Stotts named Steven Rod, William Schuman and Charles Shreve to serve on the nominating committee with Steven Rod chairman.  All three members of this committee are well qualified and are long time supporters of the Society, two of whom served as officers or members of the Board of Governors in the past.

The committee will formally present the slate of officers and board members to the general membership for election at the 2003 Fall Annual Meeting in November in Chicago.  The new officers and board members will serve a three-year term beginning in January, 2004.

The Nominating Committee is charged with the responsibility of offering a complete slate of nominees.  The names and background information of the nominees are then published in The United States Specialist and the Executive Secretary will prepare and mail the ballots with the Fall dues mailing.  The Executive Secretary will tabulate the ballots and report the results to the Board for publication.

This year's Nominating Committee has selected a slate of nominees to serve the Society as Officers and Governors to serve a three-year term, January 1, 2004 through December 31, 2006.

In addition to the members running for the elective Offices, eight members have been nominated for the Board of Governors, two of whom will be running for the first time.  Elective offices include the Chairman, President, Vice President and Secretary.  The Treasurer, Editor and Executive Secretary are not elected; they are paid employees of the Society.

A brief background of each of the nominees is presented below.

Candidates

Chairman - Roger S. Brody of Watchung, New Jersey is currently the Chairman of the Board.  He is also a governor and treasurer of the Collectors Club of New York and an APS and U.S. Classics Society member.  He is a national Gold/Grand and International Gold medal exhibitor of the United States 1902 Regular Issue and winner of the Hopkinson Trophy and the Hopkinson Literature Award.  He has authored articles for The Specialist, Linn's Stamp News, the Perfins Bulletin, Collectors Club Philatelist and The Vermont Philatelist.

President - Nicholas A. Lombardi lives in Mountainside, New Jersey.  He is the Chairman of the 1902 Series - Second Bureau Issue Committee. Nick is a retired Special Agent from the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, New Jersey Field Office.  He is currently the President of the Westfield (NJ) Stamp Club and had previously served as Treasurer.  He is a NOJEX Director and is also a member of the APS, the CCNY, the RPSL and the AAPE.  He collects U.S. stamps with a special interest in the Second Bureau Issue.  He is a Gold/Grand exhibitor and the 2000 winner of the Hopkinson Trophy.  He has also authored articles for The Specialist and other philatelic publications.

Vice President - George Wagner resides in Las Vegas, Nevada.  George is a member of the Collectors Club of Chicago, the Chicago Philatelic Society, the APS and several other philatelic organizations.  His collecting interests include the Washington-Franklin Heads, the Second and Fourth Bureau Issues, government and private vending coils, 20th century U.S. postal history and a wide range of other U.S.-related topics.  His U.S. 1906-1926 imperforates exhibits have won numerous Gold awards.

Secretary - Joann Lenz, currently the Society's Secretary, resides in Sterling Heights, MI.  She collects mint stamps of the U.S., Germany and Switzerland, and U.S. postal history usages from the Liberty era to date.  Her PNC specialty is the 17¢ Electric Auto.  She is an APS member, former secretary and board member at large of the PNC3 and a beginning exhibitor.

Governor - Paul Jenkins is a native of and lives in Idaho Falls, Idaho. He is a producer for Intermountain Film and Video Productions.  He is a past chairman and member of the Bonneville School District School Board, Secretary of the Idaho Falls Rotary Club and President of the Bonneville Education Foundation.  Paul began collecting stamps in the early 1950s. His collecting interests include U.S. material with a specialty in the Liberty Series and he has served as Chairman of the Liberty Series Study Group.

Governor - James H. Patterson lives in Scottsdale, Arizona and practices law in Phoenix where he specializes in commercial real estate development law.  Currently serving his second term as Governor, he is Chairman of the Essay-Proof Committee and has written a number of articles for The U.S. Specialist about the design and engraving of 20th century stamps.  He received the Society's 1998 Hopkinson Award for Literature and has been elected to the Arizona State Philatelic Hall of Fame.

Governor - Mike Lampson is the webmaster for the USSS web site and a current member of the Board of Governors.  Mike has been a member of the APS since age 16, is a member of several U.S.-related specialty societies and serves as librarian for the Charlotte Philatelic Society. His collecting interests range from plate blocks to Ohio postal history, with much time devoted toward airmail and special delivery covers.  Mike is a software development manager for a regional telecom company and lives in Charlotte, NC.

Governor - Jeffrey Shapiro, of Marlborough, MA, currently serves as Chairman of the USSS Presidential Era Committee and has collected stamps for over 40 years.  Over the past ten years, he has concentrated on U.S. Twentieth Century postal history and has exhibited "Collecting Prexie Postal History" at philatelic events across the country.  Jeff is an APS accredited judge and a contributor to The United States Specialist.  He is also active with stamping on the local level, serving as President of the Waltham (MA) Stamp Club, and Secretary/Treasurer of the Philatelic Group of Boston, and is show Chairman of Philatelic Show 2004 (Boxborough, MA).

Governor - Kim Johnson lives in Champaign, Illinois and together with his wife Julie owns Westville Homes, a manufactured home sales center. He has been active in the USSS for over 30 years since assuming the Plate Number Checklist Committee from Bill Patten in the mid-1970s and most recently has edited the last two editions of the Durland Standard Plate Number Catalog.  Working with John Larson he coordinates the monthly reports of the new plate numbers that appear in The Specialist. He is a member of the APS and Champaign-Urbana Stamp Club.

Governor - Rod Juell, of Joliet, Illinois, a general U.S. collector since age 14, has a special interest in the Fourth Bureau Issue.  He has been Chairman of the Recruiting Committee since 2000.  He has written for The Specialist and is editor of the USSS's A Glossary of Terms for the Collector of United States Stamps.  He edits the newsletter of the Philatelic Club of Will County and is also a member of APS, MPOS, AAMS and MCS.

Governor - John Larson lives in Champaign, Illinois and is a software engineer at Intel/KAI Software Lab.  John has been collecting stamps for about 30 years and has interests in plate numbers, testing/dummy stamps and U.S. in general.  He is co-chairman of the Plate Number Committee that publishes monthly reports in The United States Specialist, assistant to the Editor of the Durland Standard Plate Number Catalog, and a member of the Dummy Booklet Study Group.  He has published several articles in The United States Specialist on dummy material.  He has been a member of both the APS and BIA/USSS for more than 20 years and participates in the local Champaign-Urbana Junior Stamp Club for kids 5-16.

Governor - Jay Stotts resides in Houston, Texas.  He currently is serving as President of the USSS and has previously served as the BIA's president from 1993 to 1997.  Jay is serving as Chairman of the Fourth Bureau Issue Committee and has received numerous Gold and Grand awards exhibiting that series.  He is an APS accredited judge and served eight years on its accreditation committee.  He is active as an officer in the Houston Philatelic Society and is a member of several other national societies.  He has authored articles for The Specialist and other philatelic publications.