Dear Friends,

Owing to the remarkable effort of the Nomination and Election Committee consisting of Drs. Dayue Duan (Chair), Rong Tian, and Xupei Huang, the final votes for the ACRE officers go to the following 6 individuals (in alphabetic orders here and for the rest of the document): Drs. Eugene Chen; Xin L. Ma; Zhongjie Sun; Xuejun Wang; Yibin Wang; Yong Xia.  We would like to express our sincere appreciation to the members of the Nomination and Election Committee for their dedication and effectiveness for bringing this important task to a conclusion; to thank truly each of the 11 candidates for their willingness to participate and serve; and to congratulate genially to the final candidates for being elected! 

According to the ACRE bylaw, these 6 final candidates combined with 3 current board members, Drs. Alex Chen, Jun Ren, and myself, will form the next ACRE board, and the responsibility and assignment for each will be determined by the new board and announced by the new ACRE president, Alex, after the New Year.    

With the conclusion of the responsibility of the 2006-2007 board, I would like to convey profound gratitude of the board to each of you as the member of ACRE for your support and trust.  Your encouragement, participation, and contribution to each and every segment/event during the past two years made the ultimate success of ACRE .  Today, ACRE is a better known and respected professional organization because of its elite members and its noble mission.    

The esteemed status of ACRE brought the opportunities of collaboration, sponsorship, and corporation.  A notable example has been the on-going dialogue and interaction with the Chinese American Heart Association (CnAHA) for incorporation and partnership.  The Integration Committee of the ACRE, consisting of Drs. Alex Chen, Eugene Chen, Dayue Duan (Chair), Zhongjie Sun, Xuejun Wang, Chiming Wei, worked diligently with CnAHA for the past two years for the prospect of assimilation and joint organization of activities.  Moreover, ACRE has sponsored/co-sponsored a number of national/international conferences with several prestigious professional organizations/business entities, a fact truly indicative of the escalating reputation of this young organization!

At the personal level, I am deeply indebted to each of the board members including Drs. Alex Chen, Eugene Chen, Dayue Duan, Peipei Ping, Jun Ren, Zhongjie Sun, Rong Tian, Chiming Wei, and the Editor-in-Chief, Yong-Jian Geng and the Associate Editor, Hongwu Wang.  It was your wisdom, guidance, and self-sacrifice to provide robust and sound leadership to ACRE , and the glories and tributes belong deservingly to each of you!  

The bright side is that this is not the end of the OO7 story…stay tune for more refreshing, exciting, and rewarding events/episodes, and the best of all, everyone of us is in it… 

Warmest greetings to you and your family for a peaceful and relaxing holiday season!!!

Donna Wang

The Departing OO7 President of the ACRE J