Jones Becomes BIO’s Fourth President; Curtis Elected Vice President
BIO members selected Brian Jay Jones to serve as president and Cathy Curtis as vice president in an election that concluded on April 30.
Jones has been a BIO board member since 2009 and served as BIO’s secretary and vice president. He is the author of Jim Henson: The Biography and Washington Irving: An American Original.
Curtis, a former Los Angeles Times staff writer, has been a board member since 2013 and served as chair of the Program Committee for the 2014 Compleat Biographer conference. Oxford University Press will publish her biography of Abstract Expressionist painter Grace Hartigan in 2015.
“BIO is an organization whose members are incredibly passionate about, and devoted to, the art and craft of biography,” said Jones. “It’s such a privilege to belong to an organization like that, and it’s an even greater honor to serve as its president. I appreciate our members entrusting me and Cathy Curtis with this opportunity, and we look forward to working together on behalf of BIO.”
“I am thrilled to be able to work with Brian as we enter a new era for BIO,” Curtis said. “One of my goals is to encourage all members to involve yourselves more fully in our unique organization and to discover the personal and professional rewards of collaborating with your fellow biographers.”
BIO members re-elected or elected to new terms on the board were Chip Bishop, Kate Buford, Barbara Burkhardt, Deirdre David, Gayle Feldman, Beverly Gray, Hans Renders, William Souder, and Will Swift.
More than 56 percent of active BIO members cast ballots.
The first order of business for the new board will be to select a new treasurer and secretary at its May 18 meeting.