Message from the President – Fall 2024
Greetings IACM Community,
It was wonderful seeing so many of you at our annual conference this past summer in Singapore hosted at the INSEAD campus! This conference was only our second time convening in Asia, and it was exciting to be back in that region of the world with 270 attendees.
We had many interesting events at the conference, including numerous intellectually stimulating sessions, the Doctoral Student Workshop sponsored by the Conflict Management Division (CM) of the Academy of Management, and a special fireside chat with Ambassador Chan Hang Chee, thanks to the initiative and organization of Roderick Swaab and expertly facilitated by Cindy Wang. Ambassador Chan’s insights into international relations and the conflicts currently playing out throughout the world, based on years of high-level diplomatic experience, were a highlight of the conference for many. We also celebrated many award winners and the induction of two new IACM Fellows: Carsten De Dreu and Martin Euwema.
We have quite a few additional people to thank for making this conference so successful, including the immense efforts of Simone Tang (Program Chair), Brandon Charpied (Executive Director), Cindy Wang (Past President), and the IACM Board (Nazli Bhatia, Einav Hart, Scott Wiltermuth, and Siyu Yu). An additional special thanks to Deborah Cai, Michael Gross, and Laura Rees for organizing the Doctoral Student Workshop yet again with such thoughtful effort and aplomb.
We also want to express our gratitude to our wonderful sponsors: INSEAD, the Dispute Resolution Research Center at the Kellogg School of Management, Columbia University Negotiation and Conflict Resolution Program, Carnegie Mellon University Library Publishing Service, iDecisionGames, and McGraw Hill for their support. Additionally, we want to thank the generous sponsors of our student fellowships and activities: Negotiation and Team Resources (NTR; the Early Career Scholars Program – facilitated by Jeanne Brett and Holly Schroth), and the Conflict Management Division of the Academy of Management. Thanks also to Ed Fink for his generous support of the Doctoral Workshop.
In addition to the conference’s academic and professional aspects, many of us participated in our special events together, which included touring the fun and unique night safari and visiting the impressive flower dome. We thank David Daniels and Polly Kang for their invaluable assistance in planning these exceptional events that strengthened the bonds among attendees.
Our upcoming conference is scheduled to take place in Vermont from July 13-16, 2025, where we will convene at the University of Vermont in Burlington for our 38th Annual IACM meeting. The call for paper submissions by this year’s Program Chair, Emma Zhao, appears below. We are already diligently planning special events and sessions and look forward to sharing updates with you in the near future.
Our membership numbers are healthy—currently over 550 members. Our fundraising efforts for the “Donate to the Campaign for the Future of IACM” have yielded significant success (thanks to Linda Putnam for leading this campaign). The goal of this campaign is to ensure the prosperity of the next generation of conflict management scholars by annually hosting a doctoral workshop, providing support for graduate student travel, and nurturing the professional development of emerging scholars. You can view the progress of this campaign at https://iafcm.org/campaign-for-the-future-of-iacm/ and our wonderful donors on our donor wall at https://iafcm.org/donor-wall/.
We also continue to host the IACM virtual seminar series, and we express our gratitude to Jessica Li for her ongoing efforts in organizing these seminars. Furthermore, our commitment to advancing research in negotiations and conflict management remains evident in IACM’s journal, Negotiation and Conflict Management Research. We extend our thanks to Jimena Ramirez Marin, NCMR’s Editor-in-Chief, for her dedication to advancing this outstanding journal, which is a Platinum Open Access (OA) journal committed to promoting open science. Jimena will complete her term in July of 2025, and we are putting out a call for a new Editor-in-Chief of NCMR. Please consider nominating yourself or a colleague for this position and contributing to the field in this way.
We also have put out the call for nominations for Director-at-Large (Board) positions, as well as the President role (see below). Please consider volunteering for IACM – we rely on the amazing efforts of our members to keep our organization vibrant. I would urge you to nominate yourself and/or your colleagues to become involved in our leadership.
I also want to acknowledge the passing of Dean Pruitt, an eminent researcher in negotiation, and a long-time member and Fellow of IACM. Please see the heartfelt thoughts about him from our IACM Former Presidents and Fellows in this issue of Signal. We will have time to reflect on his tremendous contributions to our field (and our organization) when we convene in Vermont.
Finally, I would like to welcome Daisung Jang, our new Treasurer, to the IACM Board. I would also like to express my gratitude to Brandon Charpied, our Executive Director, Tony Kong and Sarah Jensen, the SiGNAL Co-Editors, and McKenzie Rees, our Secretary, for their ongoing dedication and service. I also want to extend my appreciation to our departing Board Representatives, Scott Wiltermuth and Siyu Yu. Thank you to our Advisory Council Chair, Laurie Weingart, who served in 2023-2024 and is generously continuing for another year of service in 2024-2025. I am thrilled to welcome Jen Dannals and Nicholas Hays as new additions to our Board Representatives.
I hope that the 2024-2025 academic year is off to a great start for everyone. I look forward to continuing our conversations and collaborations in Vermont. Please reach out with any feedback or questions. I again would urge you– whether you’re a veteran member or Singapore was your first conference – to get involved in IACM to keep our organization vibrant and useful for our members around the world.
Best regards,
Julia Bear
IACM President
