The Board of the International Association for Coptic Studies (IACS) announces an open call for applications for the position of Secretary (who acts as the Association’s treasurer, and as the editor of the Association’s newsletter). After serving with exemplary dedication since 2000, our current Secretary, Stephen Emmel, is about to retire from the IACS Board. Professor Emmel, who held the prestigious chair of Coptic Studies at the University of Münster in Germany until his retirement in 2019, has been a cornerstone of our organization. We are deeply grateful for his invaluable contributions to the IACS and to the field of Coptic Studies as a whole.
The IACS Board is now seeking a qualified candidate to take over this important role beginning August 2026 after the IACS Business Meeting at the end of the Thirteenth International Congress of Coptic Studies in Göttingen (July 27 – August 1). Applicants should be current members of IACS and hold a permanent academic position. The Secretary must have functional knowledge of at least English and French. The position of Secretary is among the executive officers of the Board of the IACS. None of the IACS Board members receives any remuneration for their service.
The role of the Secretary includes multiple responsibilities: (1) managing the financial affairs of the IACS and submitting an annual report to the Board; (2) receiving and processing IACS membership applications and maintaining a database of the members’ names, addresses, status, etc.; (3) keeping track of members’ subscriptions to the Journal of Coptic Studies and communicating with Peeters Press in Leuven about the same; (4) editing and distributing the annual IACS Newsletter. Furthermore, the Secretary is expected to contribute to the administration of the Association in other ways in collaboration with the other executive officers on the IACS Board. Finally, the institutional office of the Secretary functions as the official headquarters of the IACS and (in collaboration with the IACS Webmaster) as a clearing-house of information for its members. See the Statutes of the IACS, especially §4.
Members who are interested in serving as Secretary are invited to express their interest by sending an email either to Paola Buzi, President of the IACS, or to the IACS Webmaster, Alin Suciu.
All candidatures will be reviewed by the IACS Board, which will select one candidate for nomination to the new IACS Board that is to be elected by the IACS members in attendance at the IACS Business Meeting at the end of the 2026 International Congress in Göttingen.
We encourage all eligible members to consider applying for this position and contributing to the continued growth of the IACS. The Board of the IACS will continue to consider applications until it has chosen a candidate for nomination to the new Board at the 2026 IACS Business Meeting.
Sincerely,
The IACS Board