CAUTION: The Sender of this email is not from within Dalhousie. Dear friends, I've been trying and failing to think of a possible successor to Bob who would reproduce all of his qualities. Evidently there's no one quite like Bob. But the more I think about it, the more advantages I see to having more than one moderator, as Peter suggested. I think 3-4 might be too many; maybe two is the right number? But in any case, the possible advantages are these: * No one has to feel guilty about taking a few weeks' break from moderating for a holiday (it's nice to go offline for a while) or for other reasons. * When difficult situations arise (which will probably be very rare, but they're potentially highly stressful and consequential), being able to discuss them with your fellow moderator(s) could be very helpful. The decision doesn't fall on one person's shoulders. Pieter mentioned that the moderator may have to be capable of standing up to people more senior than them. Many would find that easier to do that if they're not alone. * Potential new moderators may be more likely to say yes if it's a shared job... depending, of course, on who they're being asked to share it with :-) Best wishes, Tom On 25/01/2022 15:14, Bob Rosebrugh wrote: Thanks to Steve, Peter and Pieter for kind words and very good suggestions. More suggestions welcome! regards, Bob ________________________________ From: Pieter Hofstra <phofstra@uottawa.ca><mailto:phofstra@uottawa.ca> Sent: January 24, 2022 14:44 To: selinger@mathstat.dal.ca<mailto:selinger@mathstat.dal.ca>; Bob Rosebrugh Cc: Geoffrey Cruttwell; N.Gambino@leeds.ac.uk<mailto:N.Gambino@leeds.ac.uk>; Ext-FSE Marino Gran; Dirk Hofmann; kock@mat.uab.ca<mailto:kock@mat.uab.ca>; Tom Leinster; eriehl@jhu.edu<mailto:eriehl@jhu.edu>; drodelo@ualg.pt<mailto:drodelo@ualg.pt>; Steve Lack Subject: Re: The Categories List Dear Bob, I wholeheartedly agree with the previous messages that your moderation of the list has been of great value to the community. I would perhaps suggest strengthening Peter's suggestion that the new moderator has a permanent position to that of being tenured. I recall that there have been some (fortunately not many) instances where a senior colleague's posts had to be curtailed; for someone who is still seeking job security and is in part reliant on letters of support from senior colleagues this may be an unpleasant position to be in. Best, Pieter ________________________________ From: selinger@mathstat.dal.ca<mailto:selinger@mathstat.dal.ca> <selinger@mathstat.dal.ca><mailto:selinger@mathstat.dal.ca> Sent: Monday, January 24, 2022 9:29 AM To: Bob Rosebrugh <rrosebru@mta.ca><mailto:rrosebru@mta.ca> Cc: Bob Rosebrugh <rrosebru@mta.ca><mailto:rrosebru@mta.ca>; Geoffrey Cruttwell <gcruttwell@mta.ca><mailto:gcruttwell@mta.ca>; N.Gambino@leeds.ac.uk<mailto:N.Gambino@leeds.ac.uk> <N.Gambino@leeds.ac.uk><mailto:N.Gambino@leeds.ac.uk>; Ext-FSE Marino Gran <marino.gran@uclouvain.be><mailto:marino.gran@uclouvain.be>; Pieter Hofstra <phofstra@uottawa.ca><mailto:phofstra@uottawa.ca>; Dirk Hofmann <dirk@ua.pt><mailto:dirk@ua.pt>; kock@mat.uab.ca<mailto:kock@mat.uab.ca> <kock@mat.uab.ca><mailto:kock@mat.uab.ca>; Tom Leinster <tom.leinster@ed.ac.uk><mailto:tom.leinster@ed.ac.uk>; eriehl@jhu.edu<mailto:eriehl@jhu.edu> <eriehl@jhu.edu><mailto:eriehl@jhu.edu>; drodelo@ualg.pt<mailto:drodelo@ualg.pt> <drodelo@ualg.pt><mailto:drodelo@ualg.pt>; Steve Lack <steve.lack@mq.edu.au><mailto:steve.lack@mq.edu.au> Subject: Re: The Categories List Attention : courriel externe | external email Hi Bob, yes, I agree with Steve! You've done a terrific job with the list. As for possible successors, how about someone like Rory? As you mentioned, the person should be youngish, be likely to remain committed to category theory for a while, and have decent organizational (and maybe some technical) skills. It would also give some stability if the person had a permanent job, i.e., probably not a postdoc. I also think it does not necessarily have to be a lifetime position. Other mailing lists (e.g. "Types") have changed moderatorship from time to time. If you want to avoid the categories mailing list "belonging" to just one person (with the attendant concern that the list may one day become defunct), there is also the possibility to form a steering committee for the list, consisting of 3-4 people. Basically the steering committee's job would be to do nothing at all, except to make sure the list doesn't disappear or go sour, and to appoint a new moderator in case the previous one resigns. -- Peter Steve Lack wrote:
Dear Bob,
I have often heard you say how little time you spend on this, even if I don’t entirely believe it! I’ll think about possible successors, but in the meantime let me just say that we are all enormously in your debt for the 32 years work you have done on this (among other things).
Very best wishes,
Steve.
On 21 Jan 2022, at 6:50 am, Bob Rosebrugh <rrosebru@mta.ca><mailto:rrosebru@mta.ca> wrote:
Dear Colleagues,
This March it will be 32 (or 100000_B) years since the Categories mailing list began in 1990. It has been (almost) entirely a pleasure for me to act as moderator for the list since then. There is just one part of the job that I hate: posting announcements of the loss of friends.
In recent years there has been less discussion on the list, but it does also still provide the community with a way to announce conferences, jobs and so on. My guess is that there would be some distress if the list were abandoned. That said, if the list is to continue for the medium term it should soon be moderated by someone considerably younger than me.
This message is being sent to you to solicit suggestions for candidates to take over the list. I am writing to you because you are all a good deal younger than me and I respect your opinions. If any of you is willing to take on the moderator role you are most welcome to offer, but my purpose is not to ask that. Rather, my request to you is to think about colleagues, perhaps even younger still, who may be suitable to run the list for a number of years, and who might be willing. For information, at this time moderating the list even with the ancient software I use (majordomo) takes only a few minutes per week (always well less than 30). A new moderator using newer software could do it even more quickly. It is not a big time commitment.
It is not my intent to put out a general call for a new moderator. Indeed, though I have undoubtedly (unintentionally) not included in the list above a number of people who could be very helpful, I would ask that you be discreet in contacting anyone further about this matter. I'm very happy to receive constructive comments on suggested names and my plan is to decide who to invite to take over. It may require several invitations, but there will be only one at a time.
Looking forward to hearing from you, Best wishes, Bob Rosebrugh
ps feel free to reply-all or just to me
The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336. Is e buidheann carthannais a th’ ann an Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann, clàraichte an Alba, àireamh clàraidh SC005336.
CAUTION: The Sender of this email is not from within Dalhousie. I concur that 1-2 moderators seems like the right number. In the past when I've shared responsibility with 3-4 for some task we ended up being less efficient since no single person felt sufficient pressure to act on any particular task. Groups of that size seemed to function more effectively if one person was the leader, which suggests that a group of 1 or 2 might function better. I'd be curious also to hear of Bob's thoughts on this. Do you wish you had a co-moderator to take over when you wanted a break from your duties? Or was it easier to have this responsibility on your own? Finally, I want to echo everyone else in conveying my deepest gratitude for your years of service. Emily Associate Professor of Mathematics (she/her) Johns Hopkins University https://emilyriehl.github.io/ On 1/26/22 11:47 AM, Tom Leinster wrote: Dear friends, I've been trying and failing to think of a possible successor to Bob who would reproduce all of his qualities. Evidently there's no one quite like Bob. But the more I think about it, the more advantages I see to having more than one moderator, as Peter suggested. I think 3-4 might be too many; maybe two is the right number? But in any case, the possible advantages are these: * No one has to feel guilty about taking a few weeks' break from moderating for a holiday (it's nice to go offline for a while) or for other reasons. * When difficult situations arise (which will probably be very rare, but they're potentially highly stressful and consequential), being able to discuss them with your fellow moderator(s) could be very helpful. The decision doesn't fall on one person's shoulders. Pieter mentioned that the moderator may have to be capable of standing up to people more senior than them. Many would find that easier to do that if they're not alone. * Potential new moderators may be more likely to say yes if it's a shared job... depending, of course, on who they're being asked to share it with :-) Best wishes, Tom On 25/01/2022 15:14, Bob Rosebrugh wrote: Thanks to Steve, Peter and Pieter for kind words and very good suggestions. More suggestions welcome! regards, Bob ________________________________ From: Pieter Hofstra <phofstra@uottawa.ca><mailto:phofstra@uottawa.ca> Sent: January 24, 2022 14:44 To: selinger@mathstat.dal.ca<mailto:selinger@mathstat.dal.ca>; Bob Rosebrugh Cc: Geoffrey Cruttwell; N.Gambino@leeds.ac.uk<mailto:N.Gambino@leeds.ac.uk>; Ext-FSE Marino Gran; Dirk Hofmann; kock@mat.uab.ca<mailto:kock@mat.uab.ca>; Tom Leinster; eriehl@jhu.edu<mailto:eriehl@jhu.edu>; drodelo@ualg.pt<mailto:drodelo@ualg.pt>; Steve Lack Subject: Re: The Categories List Dear Bob, I wholeheartedly agree with the previous messages that your moderation of the list has been of great value to the community. I would perhaps suggest strengthening Peter's suggestion that the new moderator has a permanent position to that of being tenured. I recall that there have been some (fortunately not many) instances where a senior colleague's posts had to be curtailed; for someone who is still seeking job security and is in part reliant on letters of support from senior colleagues this may be an unpleasant position to be in. Best, Pieter ________________________________ From: selinger@mathstat.dal.ca<mailto:selinger@mathstat.dal.ca> <selinger@mathstat.dal.ca><mailto:selinger@mathstat.dal.ca> Sent: Monday, January 24, 2022 9:29 AM To: Bob Rosebrugh <rrosebru@mta.ca><mailto:rrosebru@mta.ca> Cc: Bob Rosebrugh <rrosebru@mta.ca><mailto:rrosebru@mta.ca>; Geoffrey Cruttwell <gcruttwell@mta.ca><mailto:gcruttwell@mta.ca>; N.Gambino@leeds.ac.uk<mailto:N.Gambino@leeds.ac.uk> <N.Gambino@leeds.ac.uk><mailto:N.Gambino@leeds.ac.uk>; Ext-FSE Marino Gran <marino.gran@uclouvain.be><mailto:marino.gran@uclouvain.be>; Pieter Hofstra <phofstra@uottawa.ca><mailto:phofstra@uottawa.ca>; Dirk Hofmann <dirk@ua.pt><mailto:dirk@ua.pt>; kock@mat.uab.ca<mailto:kock@mat.uab.ca> <kock@mat.uab.ca><mailto:kock@mat.uab.ca>; Tom Leinster <tom.leinster@ed.ac.uk><mailto:tom.leinster@ed.ac.uk>; eriehl@jhu.edu<mailto:eriehl@jhu.edu> <eriehl@jhu.edu><mailto:eriehl@jhu.edu>; drodelo@ualg.pt<mailto:drodelo@ualg.pt> <drodelo@ualg.pt><mailto:drodelo@ualg.pt>; Steve Lack <steve.lack@mq.edu.au><mailto:steve.lack@mq.edu.au> Subject: Re: The Categories List Attention : courriel externe | external email Hi Bob, yes, I agree with Steve! You've done a terrific job with the list. As for possible successors, how about someone like Rory? As you mentioned, the person should be youngish, be likely to remain committed to category theory for a while, and have decent organizational (and maybe some technical) skills. It would also give some stability if the person had a permanent job, i.e., probably not a postdoc. I also think it does not necessarily have to be a lifetime position. Other mailing lists (e.g. "Types") have changed moderatorship from time to time. If you want to avoid the categories mailing list "belonging" to just one person (with the attendant concern that the list may one day become defunct), there is also the possibility to form a steering committee for the list, consisting of 3-4 people. Basically the steering committee's job would be to do nothing at all, except to make sure the list doesn't disappear or go sour, and to appoint a new moderator in case the previous one resigns. -- Peter Steve Lack wrote:
Dear Bob,
I have often heard you say how little time you spend on this, even if I don’t entirely believe it! I’ll think about possible successors, but in the meantime let me just say that we are all enormously in your debt for the 32 years work you have done on this (among other things).
Very best wishes,
Steve.
On 21 Jan 2022, at 6:50 am, Bob Rosebrugh <rrosebru@mta.ca><mailto:rrosebru@mta.ca> wrote:
Dear Colleagues,
This March it will be 32 (or 100000_B) years since the Categories mailing list began in 1990. It has been (almost) entirely a pleasure for me to act as moderator for the list since then. There is just one part of the job that I hate: posting announcements of the loss of friends.
In recent years there has been less discussion on the list, but it does also still provide the community with a way to announce conferences, jobs and so on. My guess is that there would be some distress if the list were abandoned. That said, if the list is to continue for the medium term it should soon be moderated by someone considerably younger than me.
This message is being sent to you to solicit suggestions for candidates to take over the list. I am writing to you because you are all a good deal younger than me and I respect your opinions. If any of you is willing to take on the moderator role you are most welcome to offer, but my purpose is not to ask that. Rather, my request to you is to think about colleagues, perhaps even younger still, who may be suitable to run the list for a number of years, and who might be willing. For information, at this time moderating the list even with the ancient software I use (majordomo) takes only a few minutes per week (always well less than 30). A new moderator using newer software could do it even more quickly. It is not a big time commitment.
It is not my intent to put out a general call for a new moderator. Indeed, though I have undoubtedly (unintentionally) not included in the list above a number of people who could be very helpful, I would ask that you be discreet in contacting anyone further about this matter. I'm very happy to receive constructive comments on suggested names and my plan is to decide who to invite to take over. It may require several invitations, but there will be only one at a time.
Looking forward to hearing from you, Best wishes, Bob Rosebrugh
ps feel free to reply-all or just to me
The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336. Is e buidheann carthannais a th’ ann an Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann, clàraichte an Alba, àireamh clàraidh SC005336.
CAUTION: The Sender of this email is not from within Dalhousie. This reply is just to correct Joachim's address. At some stage in this email chain, Catalonia became Canada (.cat |-> .ca). Replying-all to this mail rather than earlier ones should ensure that he gets it. On Wed, 26 Jan 2022, EMILY RIEHL wrote:
I concur that 1-2 moderators seems like the right number. In the past when I've shared responsibility with 3-4 for some task we ended up being less efficient since no single person felt sufficient pressure to act on any particular task. Groups of that size seemed to function more effectively if one person was the leader, which suggests that a group of 1 or 2 might function better.
I'd be curious also to hear of Bob's thoughts on this. Do you wish you had a co-moderator to take over when you wanted a break from your duties? Or was it easier to have this responsibility on your own?
Finally, I want to echo everyone else in conveying my deepest gratitude for your years of service.
Emily
Associate Professor of Mathematics (she/her) Johns Hopkins University https://emilyriehl.github.io/ On 1/26/22 11:47 AM, Tom Leinster wrote:
Dear friends,
I've been trying and failing to think of a possible successor to Bob who would reproduce all of his qualities. Evidently there's no one quite like Bob. But the more I think about it, the more advantages I see to having more than one moderator, as Peter suggested. I think 3-4 might be too many; maybe two is the right number? But in any case, the possible advantages are these:
* No one has to feel guilty about taking a few weeks' break from moderating for a holiday (it's nice to go offline for a while) or for other reasons.
* When difficult situations arise (which will probably be very rare, but they're potentially highly stressful and consequential), being able to discuss them with your fellow moderator(s) could be very helpful. The decision doesn't fall on one person's shoulders. Pieter mentioned that the moderator may have to be capable of standing up to people more senior than them. Many would find that easier to do that if they're not alone.
* Potential new moderators may be more likely to say yes if it's a shared job... depending, of course, on who they're being asked to share it with :-)
Best wishes,
Tom
On 25/01/2022 15:14, Bob Rosebrugh wrote:
Thanks to Steve, Peter and Pieter for kind words and very good suggestions. More suggestions welcome!
regards, Bob
______________________________________________________________________________________ From: Pieter Hofstra <phofstra@uottawa.ca> Sent: January 24, 2022 14:44 To: selinger@mathstat.dal.ca; Bob Rosebrugh Cc: Geoffrey Cruttwell; N.Gambino@leeds.ac.uk; Ext-FSE Marino Gran; Dirk Hofmann; kock@mat.uab.ca; Tom Leinster; eriehl@jhu.edu; drodelo@ualg.pt; Steve Lack Subject: Re: The Categories List Dear Bob,
I wholeheartedly agree with the previous messages that your moderation of the list has been of great value to the community. I would perhaps suggest strengthening Peter's suggestion that the new moderator has a permanent position to that of being tenured. I recall that there have been some (fortunately not many) instances where a senior colleague's posts had to be curtailed; for someone who is still seeking job security and is in part reliant on letters of support from senior colleagues this may be an unpleasant position to be in.
Best, Pieter
______________________________________________________________________________________ From: selinger@mathstat.dal.ca <selinger@mathstat.dal.ca> Sent: Monday, January 24, 2022 9:29 AM To: Bob Rosebrugh <rrosebru@mta.ca> Cc: Bob Rosebrugh <rrosebru@mta.ca>; Geoffrey Cruttwell <gcruttwell@mta.ca>; N.Gambino@leeds.ac.uk <N.Gambino@leeds.ac.uk>; Ext-FSE Marino Gran <marino.gran@uclouvain.be>; Pieter Hofstra <phofstra@uottawa.ca>; Dirk Hofmann <dirk@ua.pt>; kock@mat.uab.ca <kock@mat.uab.ca>; Tom Leinster <tom.leinster@ed.ac.uk>; eriehl@jhu.edu <eriehl@jhu.edu>; drodelo@ualg.pt <drodelo@ualg.pt>; Steve Lack <steve.lack@mq.edu.au> Subject: Re: The Categories List Attention : courriel externe | external email
Hi Bob,
yes, I agree with Steve! You've done a terrific job with the list.
As for possible successors, how about someone like Rory? As you mentioned, the person should be youngish, be likely to remain committed to category theory for a while, and have decent organizational (and maybe some technical) skills. It would also give some stability if the person had a permanent job, i.e., probably not a postdoc.
I also think it does not necessarily have to be a lifetime position. Other mailing lists (e.g. "Types") have changed moderatorship from time to time.
If you want to avoid the categories mailing list "belonging" to just one person (with the attendant concern that the list may one day become defunct), there is also the possibility to form a steering committee for the list, consisting of 3-4 people. Basically the steering committee's job would be to do nothing at all, except to make sure the list doesn't disappear or go sour, and to appoint a new moderator in case the previous one resigns.
-- Peter
Steve Lack wrote:
Dear Bob,
I have often heard you say how little time you spend on this, even if I
but in the meantime let me just say that we are all enormously in your debt for the 32 years work you have done on this (among other things).
Very best wishes,
Steve.
On 21 Jan 2022, at 6:50 am, Bob Rosebrugh <rrosebru@mta.ca> wrote:
Dear Colleagues,
This March it will be 32 (or 100000_B) years since the Categories mailing list began in 1990. It has been (almost) entirely a pleasure for me to act as moderator for the list since then. There is just one part of
don’t entirely believe it! I’ll think about possible successors, the job that I hate: posting announcements of the loss of friends.
In recent years there has been less discussion on the list, but it
does also still provide the community with a way to announce conferences, jobs and so on. My guess is that there would be some distress if the list were abandoned. That said, if the list is to continue for the medium term it should soon be moderated by someone considerably younger than me.
This message is being sent to you to solicit suggestions for
candidates to take over the list. I am writing to you because you are all a good deal younger than me and I respect your opinions. If any of you is willing to take on the moderator role you are most welcome to offer, but my purpose is not to ask that. Rather, my request to you is to think about
colleagues, perhaps even younger still, who may be suitable to run the list for a number of years, and who might be willing. For information, at this time moderating the list even with the ancient software I use (majordomo) takes only a few minutes per week (always well less than 30). A new moderator using newer software could do it even more quickly. It is not a big time commitment. > > > > It is not my intent to put out a general call for a new moderator. Indeed, though I have undoubtedly (unintentionally) not included in the list above a number of people who could be very helpful, I would ask that you be discreet in contacting anyone further about this matter. I'm very happy to receive constructive comments on suggested names and my plan is to decide who to invite to take over. It may require several invitations, but there will be only one at a time. > > > > Looking forward to hearing from you, > > Best wishes, > > Bob Rosebrugh > > > > ps feel free to reply-all or just to me > > > > > > >
The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336. Is e buidheann carthannais a th’ ann an Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann, clàraichte an Alba, àireamh clàraidh SC005336.
-- Tom Leinster School of Mathematics, University of Edinburgh https://www.maths.ed.ac.uk/~tl
CAUTION: The Sender of this email is not from within Dalhousie. Hello, [With Joachim’s correct address in cc] I join others in sincerely thanking Bob for the many years of care of the categories mailing list, which has been invaluable. I personally like the idea of a “moderator-in-chief”, assisted by two “associate moderators”. The journal Mathematical Structures in Computer Science operates along similar lines and I think things work well. For the mailing list, as Emily suggested, the associate moderators would step in when the “moderator-in-chief” is away, offer assistance, and potentially become future editors-in-chief. Having two associate moderators rather than one ensures a bit of resilience and avoids stalling if there is a disagreement. Following this thought, perhaps this team could be people at different career stages, with moderator-in-chief being someone slightly more senior. Other names that come to mind are: Matias Menni, Stefan Milius. Best wishes, Nicola = Nicola Gambino Professor of Pure Mathematics and Director of Research and Innovation School of Mathematics, University of Leeds Web: http://www1.maths.leeds.ac.uk/~pmtng/ On 26 Jan 2022, at 10:59, EMILY RIEHL <eriehl@jhu.edu<mailto:eriehl@jhu.edu>> wrote: I concur that 1-2 moderators seems like the right number. In the past when I've shared responsibility with 3-4 for some task we ended up being less efficient since no single person felt sufficient pressure to act on any particular task. Groups of that size seemed to function more effectively if one person was the leader, which suggests that a group of 1 or 2 might function better. I'd be curious also to hear of Bob's thoughts on this. Do you wish you had a co-moderator to take over when you wanted a break from your duties? Or was it easier to have this responsibility on your own? Finally, I want to echo everyone else in conveying my deepest gratitude for your years of service. Emily Associate Professor of Mathematics (she/her) Johns Hopkins University https://emilyriehl.github.io/ On 1/26/22 11:47 AM, Tom Leinster wrote: Dear friends, I've been trying and failing to think of a possible successor to Bob who would reproduce all of his qualities. Evidently there's no one quite like Bob. But the more I think about it, the more advantages I see to having more than one moderator, as Peter suggested. I think 3-4 might be too many; maybe two is the right number? But in any case, the possible advantages are these: * No one has to feel guilty about taking a few weeks' break from moderating for a holiday (it's nice to go offline for a while) or for other reasons. * When difficult situations arise (which will probably be very rare, but they're potentially highly stressful and consequential), being able to discuss them with your fellow moderator(s) could be very helpful. The decision doesn't fall on one person's shoulders. Pieter mentioned that the moderator may have to be capable of standing up to people more senior than them. Many would find that easier to do that if they're not alone. * Potential new moderators may be more likely to say yes if it's a shared job... depending, of course, on who they're being asked to share it with :-) Best wishes, Tom On 25/01/2022 15:14, Bob Rosebrugh wrote: Thanks to Steve, Peter and Pieter for kind words and very good suggestions. More suggestions welcome! regards, Bob ________________________________ From: Pieter Hofstra <phofstra@uottawa.ca><mailto:phofstra@uottawa.ca> Sent: January 24, 2022 14:44 To: selinger@mathstat.dal.ca<mailto:selinger@mathstat.dal.ca>; Bob Rosebrugh Cc: Geoffrey Cruttwell; N.Gambino@leeds.ac.uk<mailto:N.Gambino@leeds.ac.uk>; Ext-FSE Marino Gran; Dirk Hofmann; kock@mat.uab.ca<mailto:kock@mat.uab.ca>; Tom Leinster; eriehl@jhu.edu<mailto:eriehl@jhu.edu>; drodelo@ualg.pt<mailto:drodelo@ualg.pt>; Steve Lack Subject: Re: The Categories List Dear Bob, I wholeheartedly agree with the previous messages that your moderation of the list has been of great value to the community. I would perhaps suggest strengthening Peter's suggestion that the new moderator has a permanent position to that of being tenured. I recall that there have been some (fortunately not many) instances where a senior colleague's posts had to be curtailed; for someone who is still seeking job security and is in part reliant on letters of support from senior colleagues this may be an unpleasant position to be in. Best, Pieter ________________________________ From: selinger@mathstat.dal.ca<mailto:selinger@mathstat.dal.ca> <selinger@mathstat.dal.ca><mailto:selinger@mathstat.dal.ca> Sent: Monday, January 24, 2022 9:29 AM To: Bob Rosebrugh <rrosebru@mta.ca><mailto:rrosebru@mta.ca> Cc: Bob Rosebrugh <rrosebru@mta.ca><mailto:rrosebru@mta.ca>; Geoffrey Cruttwell <gcruttwell@mta.ca><mailto:gcruttwell@mta.ca>; N.Gambino@leeds.ac.uk<mailto:N.Gambino@leeds.ac.uk> <N.Gambino@leeds.ac.uk><mailto:N.Gambino@leeds.ac.uk>; Ext-FSE Marino Gran <marino.gran@uclouvain.be><mailto:marino.gran@uclouvain.be>; Pieter Hofstra <phofstra@uottawa.ca><mailto:phofstra@uottawa.ca>; Dirk Hofmann <dirk@ua.pt><mailto:dirk@ua.pt>; kock@mat.uab.ca<mailto:kock@mat.uab.ca> <kock@mat.uab.ca><mailto:kock@mat.uab.ca>; Tom Leinster <tom.leinster@ed.ac.uk><mailto:tom.leinster@ed.ac.uk>; eriehl@jhu.edu<mailto:eriehl@jhu.edu> <eriehl@jhu.edu><mailto:eriehl@jhu.edu>; drodelo@ualg.pt<mailto:drodelo@ualg.pt> <drodelo@ualg.pt><mailto:drodelo@ualg.pt>; Steve Lack <steve.lack@mq.edu.au><mailto:steve.lack@mq.edu.au> Subject: Re: The Categories List Attention : courriel externe | external email Hi Bob, yes, I agree with Steve! You've done a terrific job with the list. As for possible successors, how about someone like Rory? As you mentioned, the person should be youngish, be likely to remain committed to category theory for a while, and have decent organizational (and maybe some technical) skills. It would also give some stability if the person had a permanent job, i.e., probably not a postdoc. I also think it does not necessarily have to be a lifetime position. Other mailing lists (e.g. "Types") have changed moderatorship from time to time. If you want to avoid the categories mailing list "belonging" to just one person (with the attendant concern that the list may one day become defunct), there is also the possibility to form a steering committee for the list, consisting of 3-4 people. Basically the steering committee's job would be to do nothing at all, except to make sure the list doesn't disappear or go sour, and to appoint a new moderator in case the previous one resigns. -- Peter Steve Lack wrote:
Dear Bob,
I have often heard you say how little time you spend on this, even if I don’t entirely believe it! I’ll think about possible successors, but in the meantime let me just say that we are all enormously in your debt for the 32 years work you have done on this (among other things).
Very best wishes,
Steve.
On 21 Jan 2022, at 6:50 am, Bob Rosebrugh <rrosebru@mta.ca><mailto:rrosebru@mta.ca> wrote:
Dear Colleagues,
This March it will be 32 (or 100000_B) years since the Categories mailing list began in 1990. It has been (almost) entirely a pleasure for me to act as moderator for the list since then. There is just one part of the job that I hate: posting announcements of the loss of friends.
In recent years there has been less discussion on the list, but it does also still provide the community with a way to announce conferences, jobs and so on. My guess is that there would be some distress if the list were abandoned. That said, if the list is to continue for the medium term it should soon be moderated by someone considerably younger than me.
This message is being sent to you to solicit suggestions for candidates to take over the list. I am writing to you because you are all a good deal younger than me and I respect your opinions. If any of you is willing to take on the moderator role you are most welcome to offer, but my purpose is not to ask that. Rather, my request to you is to think about colleagues, perhaps even younger still, who may be suitable to run the list for a number of years, and who might be willing. For information, at this time moderating the list even with the ancient software I use (majordomo) takes only a few minutes per week (always well less than 30). A new moderator using newer software could do it even more quickly. It is not a big time commitment.
It is not my intent to put out a general call for a new moderator. Indeed, though I have undoubtedly (unintentionally) not included in the list above a number of people who could be very helpful, I would ask that you be discreet in contacting anyone further about this matter. I'm very happy to receive constructive comments on suggested names and my plan is to decide who to invite to take over. It may require several invitations, but there will be only one at a time.
Looking forward to hearing from you, Best wishes, Bob Rosebrugh
ps feel free to reply-all or just to me
The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336. Is e buidheann carthannais a th’ ann an Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann, clàraichte an Alba, àireamh clàraidh SC005336.
CAUTION: The Sender of this email is not from within Dalhousie. Hi all, yes -- huge thanks, Bob, for all the work you have put into the mailing list over so many years! I agree with all of the input to the discussion so far. I don't think I have anything important to contribute with. (I feel a bit unconcentrated lately.) Cheers, Joachim. And thanks for all the manual forwards, to keep me in the loop. On 26/01/2022 13:00 , Nicola Gambino wrote:
Hello,
[With Joachim’s correct address in cc]
I join others in sincerely thanking Bob for the many years of care of the categories mailing list, which has been invaluable.
I personally like the idea of a “moderator-in-chief”, assisted by two “associate moderators”. The journal Mathematical Structures in Computer Science operates along similar lines and I think things work well. For the mailing list, as Emily suggested, the associate moderators would step in when the “moderator-in-chief” is away, offer assistance, and potentially become future editors-in-chief. Having two associate moderators rather than one ensures a bit of resilience and avoids stalling if there is a disagreement.
Following this thought, perhaps this team could be people at different career stages, with moderator-in-chief being someone slightly more senior.
Other names that come to mind are: Matias Menni, Stefan Milius.
Best wishes, Nicola
= Nicola Gambino Professor of Pure Mathematics and Director of Research and Innovation School of Mathematics, University of Leeds Web: http://www1.maths.leeds.ac.uk/~pmtng/
On 26 Jan 2022, at 10:59, EMILY RIEHL <eriehl@jhu.edu <mailto:eriehl@jhu.edu>> wrote:
I concur that 1-2 moderators seems like the right number. In the past when I've shared responsibility with 3-4 for some task we ended up being less efficient since no single person felt sufficient pressure to act on any particular task. Groups of that size seemed to function more effectively if one person was the leader, which suggests that a group of 1 or 2 might function better.
I'd be curious also to hear of Bob's thoughts on this. Do you wish you had a co-moderator to take over when you wanted a break from your duties? Or was it easier to have this responsibility on your own?
Finally, I want to echo everyone else in conveying my deepest gratitude for your years of service.
Emily
Associate Professor of Mathematics (she/her) Johns Hopkins University https://emilyriehl.github.io/ On 1/26/22 11:47 AM, Tom Leinster wrote:
Dear friends,
I've been trying and failing to think of a possible successor to Bob who would reproduce all of his qualities. Evidently there's no one quite like Bob. But the more I think about it, the more advantages I see to having more than one moderator, as Peter suggested. I think 3-4 might be too many; maybe two is the right number? But in any case, the possible advantages are these:
* No one has to feel guilty about taking a few weeks' break from moderating for a holiday (it's nice to go offline for a while) or for other reasons.
* When difficult situations arise (which will probably be very rare, but they're potentially highly stressful and consequential), being able to discuss them with your fellow moderator(s) could be very helpful. The decision doesn't fall on one person's shoulders. Pieter mentioned that the moderator may have to be capable of standing up to people more senior than them. Many would find that easier to do that if they're not alone.
* Potential new moderators may be more likely to say yes if it's a shared job... depending, of course, on who they're being asked to share it with :-)
Best wishes,
Tom
On 25/01/2022 15:14, Bob Rosebrugh wrote:
Thanks to Steve, Peter and Pieter for kind words and very good suggestions. More suggestions welcome!
regards, Bob
------------------------------------------------------------------------ *From:* Pieter Hofstra <phofstra@uottawa.ca> *Sent:* January 24, 2022 14:44 *To:* selinger@mathstat.dal.ca; Bob Rosebrugh *Cc:* Geoffrey Cruttwell; N.Gambino@leeds.ac.uk; Ext-FSE Marino Gran; Dirk Hofmann; kock@mat.uab.ca; Tom Leinster; eriehl@jhu.edu; drodelo@ualg.pt; Steve Lack *Subject:* Re: The Categories List Dear Bob,
I wholeheartedly agree with the previous messages that your moderation of the list has been of great value to the community. I would perhaps suggest strengthening Peter's suggestion that the new moderator has a permanent position to that of being tenured. I recall that there have been some (fortunately not many) instances where a senior colleague's posts had to be curtailed; for someone who is still seeking job security and is in part reliant on letters of support from senior colleagues this may be an unpleasant position to be in.
Best, Pieter ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *From:* selinger@mathstat.dal.ca <selinger@mathstat.dal.ca> *Sent:* Monday, January 24, 2022 9:29 AM *To:* Bob Rosebrugh <rrosebru@mta.ca> *Cc:* Bob Rosebrugh <rrosebru@mta.ca>; Geoffrey Cruttwell <gcruttwell@mta.ca>; N.Gambino@leeds.ac.uk <N.Gambino@leeds.ac.uk>; Ext-FSE Marino Gran <marino.gran@uclouvain.be>; Pieter Hofstra <phofstra@uottawa.ca>; Dirk Hofmann <dirk@ua.pt>; kock@mat.uab.ca <kock@mat.uab.ca>; Tom Leinster <tom.leinster@ed.ac.uk>; eriehl@jhu.edu <eriehl@jhu.edu>; drodelo@ualg.pt <drodelo@ualg.pt>; Steve Lack <steve.lack@mq.edu.au> *Subject:* Re: The Categories List Attention : courriel externe | external email
Hi Bob,
yes, I agree with Steve! You've done a terrific job with the list.
As for possible successors, how about someone like Rory? As you mentioned, the person should be youngish, be likely to remain committed to category theory for a while, and have decent organizational (and maybe some technical) skills. It would also give some stability if the person had a permanent job, i.e., probably not a postdoc.
I also think it does not necessarily have to be a lifetime position. Other mailing lists (e.g. "Types") have changed moderatorship from time to time.
If you want to avoid the categories mailing list "belonging" to just one person (with the attendant concern that the list may one day become defunct), there is also the possibility to form a steering committee for the list, consisting of 3-4 people. Basically the steering committee's job would be to do nothing at all, except to make sure the list doesn't disappear or go sour, and to appoint a new moderator in case the previous one resigns.
-- Peter
Steve Lack wrote:
Dear Bob,
I have often heard you say how little time you spend on this, even if I don’t entirely believe it! I’ll think about possible successors, but in the meantime let me just say that we are all enormously in your debt for the 32 years work you have done on this (among other things).
Very best wishes,
Steve.
On 21 Jan 2022, at 6:50 am, Bob Rosebrugh<rrosebru@mta.ca> wrote:
Dear Colleagues,
This March it will be 32 (or 100000_B) years since the Categories mailing list began in 1990. It has been (almost) entirely a pleasure for me to act as moderator for the list since then. There is just one part of the job that I hate: posting announcements of the loss of friends.
In recent years there has been less discussion on the list, but it does also still provide the community with a way to announce conferences, jobs and so on. My guess is that there would be some distress if the list were abandoned. That said, if the list is to continue for the medium term it should soon be moderated by
This message is being sent to you to solicit suggestions for candidates to take over the list. I am writing to you because you are all a good deal younger than me and I respect your opinions. If any of you is willing to take on the moderator role you are most welcome to offer, but my purpose is not to ask that. Rather,
my request to you is to think about colleagues, perhaps even younger still, who may be suitable to run the list for a number of years, and who might be willing. For information, at this time moderating
someone considerably younger than me. the list even with the ancient software I use (majordomo) takes only a few minutes per week (always well less than 30). A new moderator using newer software could do it even more quickly. It is not a big time commitment.
It is not my intent to put out a general call for a new moderator. Indeed, though I have undoubtedly (unintentionally) not included in the list above a number of people who could be very helpful, I would ask that you be discreet in contacting anyone further about this matter. I'm very happy to receive constructive comments
on suggested names and my plan is to decide who to invite to take over. It may require several invitations, but there will be only one at a time.
Looking forward to hearing from you, Best wishes, Bob Rosebrugh
ps feel free to reply-all or just to me
The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336. Is e buidheann carthannais a th’ ann an Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann, clàraichte an Alba, àireamh clàraidh SC005336.
CAUTION: The Sender of this email is not from within Dalhousie. Hello All, I would like to join everyone in thanking Bob for administrating this list for so many years, it was and is a great service to our community (and I believe having such a mailing list will be also very useful in the future). I don't have much to add. I also believe that it might be useful to distribute the work over 2 our 3 people (but not more), and the candidates already mentioned (Rory, Matías, Stefan) are certainly excellent choices. Happy New Year to everyone (I know, a bit late). All the best Dirk On 26 January 2022 at 13:52 +01+0100, Joachim Kock <kock@mat.uab.cat> wrote ...
Hi all,
yes -- huge thanks, Bob, for all the work you have put into the mailing list over so many years!
I agree with all of the input to the discussion so far. I don't think I have anything important to contribute with. (I feel a bit unconcentrated lately.)
Cheers, Joachim.
And thanks for all the manual forwards, to keep me in the loop.
On 26/01/2022 13:00 , Nicola Gambino wrote:
Hello,
[With Joachim’s correct address in cc]
I join others in sincerely thanking Bob for the many years of care of the categories mailing list, which has been invaluable.
I personally like the idea of a “moderator-in-chief”, assisted by two “associate moderators”. The journal Mathematical Structures in Computer Science operates along similar lines and I think things work well. For the mailing list, as Emily suggested, the associate moderators would step in when the “moderator-in-chief” is away, offer assistance, and potentially become future editors-in-chief. Having two associate moderators rather than one ensures a bit of resilience and avoids stalling if there is a disagreement.
Following this thought, perhaps this team could be people at different career stages, with moderator-in-chief being someone slightly more senior.
Other names that come to mind are: Matias Menni, Stefan Milius.
Best wishes, Nicola
= Nicola Gambino Professor of Pure Mathematics and Director of Research and Innovation School of Mathematics, University of Leeds Web: http://www1.maths.leeds.ac.uk/~pmtng/
On 26 Jan 2022, at 10:59, EMILY RIEHL <eriehl@jhu.edu <mailto:eriehl@jhu.edu>> wrote:
I concur that 1-2 moderators seems like the right number. In the past when I've shared responsibility with 3-4 for some task we ended up being less efficient since no single person felt sufficient pressure to act on any particular task. Groups of that size seemed to function more effectively if one person was the leader, which suggests that a group of 1 or 2 might function better.
I'd be curious also to hear of Bob's thoughts on this. Do you wish you had a co-moderator to take over when you wanted a break from your duties? Or was it easier to have this responsibility on your own?
Finally, I want to echo everyone else in conveying my deepest gratitude for your years of service.
Emily
Associate Professor of Mathematics (she/her) Johns Hopkins University https://emilyriehl.github.io/ On 1/26/22 11:47 AM, Tom Leinster wrote:
Dear friends,
I've been trying and failing to think of a possible successor to Bob who would reproduce all of his qualities. Evidently there's no one quite like Bob. But the more I think about it, the more advantages I see to having more than one moderator, as Peter suggested. I think 3-4 might be too many; maybe two is the right number? But in any case, the possible advantages are these:
* No one has to feel guilty about taking a few weeks' break from moderating for a holiday (it's nice to go offline for a while) or for other reasons.
* When difficult situations arise (which will probably be very rare, but they're potentially highly stressful and consequential), being able to discuss them with your fellow moderator(s) could be very helpful. The decision doesn't fall on one person's shoulders. Pieter mentioned that the moderator may have to be capable of standing up to people more senior than them. Many would find that easier to do that if they're not alone.
* Potential new moderators may be more likely to say yes if it's a shared job... depending, of course, on who they're being asked to share it with :-)
Best wishes,
Tom
On 25/01/2022 15:14, Bob Rosebrugh wrote:
Thanks to Steve, Peter and Pieter for kind words and very good suggestions. More suggestions welcome!
regards, Bob
------------------------------------------------------------------------ *From:* Pieter Hofstra <phofstra@uottawa.ca> *Sent:* January 24, 2022 14:44 *To:* selinger@mathstat.dal.ca; Bob Rosebrugh *Cc:* Geoffrey Cruttwell; N.Gambino@leeds.ac.uk; Ext-FSE Marino Gran; Dirk Hofmann; kock@mat.uab.ca; Tom Leinster; eriehl@jhu.edu; drodelo@ualg.pt; Steve Lack *Subject:* Re: The Categories List Dear Bob,
I wholeheartedly agree with the previous messages that your moderation of the list has been of great value to the community. I would perhaps suggest strengthening Peter's suggestion that the new moderator has a permanent position to that of being tenured. I recall that there have been some (fortunately not many) instances where a senior colleague's posts had to be curtailed; for someone who is still seeking job security and is in part reliant on letters of support from senior colleagues this may be an unpleasant position to be in.
Best, Pieter ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *From:* selinger@mathstat.dal.ca <selinger@mathstat.dal.ca> *Sent:* Monday, January 24, 2022 9:29 AM *To:* Bob Rosebrugh <rrosebru@mta.ca> *Cc:* Bob Rosebrugh <rrosebru@mta.ca>; Geoffrey Cruttwell <gcruttwell@mta.ca>; N.Gambino@leeds.ac.uk <N.Gambino@leeds.ac.uk>; Ext-FSE Marino Gran <marino.gran@uclouvain.be>; Pieter Hofstra <phofstra@uottawa.ca>; Dirk Hofmann <dirk@ua.pt>; kock@mat.uab.ca <kock@mat.uab.ca>; Tom Leinster <tom.leinster@ed.ac.uk>; eriehl@jhu.edu <eriehl@jhu.edu>; drodelo@ualg.pt <drodelo@ualg.pt>; Steve Lack <steve.lack@mq.edu.au> *Subject:* Re: The Categories List Attention : courriel externe | external email
Hi Bob,
yes, I agree with Steve! You've done a terrific job with the list.
As for possible successors, how about someone like Rory? As you mentioned, the person should be youngish, be likely to remain committed to category theory for a while, and have decent organizational (and maybe some technical) skills. It would also give some stability if the person had a permanent job, i.e., probably not a postdoc.
I also think it does not necessarily have to be a lifetime position. Other mailing lists (e.g. "Types") have changed moderatorship from time to time.
If you want to avoid the categories mailing list "belonging" to just one person (with the attendant concern that the list may one day become defunct), there is also the possibility to form a steering committee for the list, consisting of 3-4 people. Basically the steering committee's job would be to do nothing at all, except to make sure the list doesn't disappear or go sour, and to appoint a new moderator in case the previous one resigns.
-- Peter
Steve Lack wrote:
Dear Bob,
I have often heard you say how little time you spend on this, even if I don’t entirely believe it! I’ll think about possible successors, but in the meantime let me just say that we are all enormously in your debt for the 32 years work you have done on this (among other things).
Very best wishes,
Steve.
> On 21 Jan 2022, at 6:50 am, Bob > Rosebrugh<rrosebru@mta.ca> wrote: > > > Dear Colleagues, > > This March it will be 32 (or 100000_B) years since the > Categories > mailing list began in 1990. It has been (almost) > entirely a pleasure > for me to act as moderator for the list since then. > There is just one > part of the job that I hate: posting announcements of > the loss of > friends. > > In recent years there has been less discussion on the > list, but it does > also still provide the community with a way to announce > conferences, > jobs and so on. My guess is that there would be some > distress if the > list were abandoned. That said, if the list is to > continue for the > medium term it should soon be moderated by
> > This message is being sent to you to solicit suggestions > for candidates > to take over the list. I am writing to you because you > are all a good > deal younger than me and I respect your opinions. If any > of you is > willing to take on the moderator role you are most > welcome to offer, > but my purpose is not to ask that. Rather, my request to you is to think about colleagues, perhaps even younger still, who may be suitable to run the list for a number of years, and who might be willing. For information, at this time moderating
someone considerably younger than me. the list even with the ancient software I use (majordomo) takes only a few minutes per week (always well less than 30). A new moderator using newer software could do it even more quickly. It is not a big time commitment.
> > It is not my intent to put out a general call for a new > moderator. > Indeed, though I have undoubtedly (unintentionally) not > included in the > list above a number of people who could be very helpful, > I would ask > that you be discreet in contacting anyone further about > this matter. > I'm very happy to receive constructive comments on suggested names and my plan is to decide who to invite to take over. It may require several invitations, but there will be only one at a time. > > Looking forward to hearing from you, > Best wishes, > Bob Rosebrugh > > ps feel free to reply-all or just to me > >
The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336. Is e buidheann carthannais a th’ ann an Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann, clàraichte an Alba, àireamh clàraidh SC005336.
participants (5)
-
Dirk Hofmann -
EMILY RIEHL -
Joachim Kock -
Nicola Gambino -
Tom Leinster