I am honored and feel privileged to serve as your next President. The American Academy of Maxillofacial Prosthetics and all of you have been part of my extended family for my entire professional career. You have mentored, supported and nurtured my development, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you. I look forward to working with you in fulfilling our mission - to accumulate and disseminate knowledge and experience and to promote and maintain research programs involving methods, techniques and devices used in maxillofacial prosthetics.

I would like to congratulate and thank David Reisberg and Tom Salinas for orchestrating an outstanding annual meeting. Miami Beach was a wonderful venue and ensured that our 66th annual meeting will not be easily forgotten.

Change is inevitable.  In New Orleans we will have a new format for our scientific session ?Maxillofacial Rehabilitation: A Global Perspective?. Joe Huryn will be assembling a group of outstanding presenters. The meeting will start on Sunday, November 1, with our industry presentations and the poster session, followed by the scientific session all day Monday and Tuesday morning with the workshops on Tuesday afternoon. We will be at ?The Roosevelt?, a classic New Orleans hotel with the famous Sazerac Bar. Come early and enjoy Halloween.  No city celebrates like New Orleans!

Alvin Wee deserves our gratitude for all his efforts during his term as Secretary.  I would also like to thank Jim Kelly for serving as Recording Secretary, and I have the utmost confidence in Jim?s abilities to take the Academy to the next level as he will take over as Secretary from Alvin in New Orleans.

Escalating costs of our meetings is a challenge, and if it was not for Richard Cardoso and his team?s efforts, we would not be able to have meetings of the caliber we have grown accustomed to. Thank you, Richard, for your continued commitment to raise funds.

The executive council has monthly conference calls scheduled and will have an interim board meeting in April, so please get in touch with suggestions.  We are all part of this amazing family and need to work together to make sure that the AAMP continues to host the very best scientific meetings with an opportunity for fellowship. Your board will start work on a strategic plan for the Academy this year, as we make every effort to evolve and stay relevant. The American Academy of Maxillofacial Prosthetics was founded in 1953 by Drs. Aelred C. Fonder, Joseph E. Schaefer, and John R. Thompson, and we owe it to them to carry on their vision.

Once again, thank you for your trust and support ? remember I am only a phone call or email away and would love to hear from all of you.

Best wishes,

Arun Sharma