PHILATELIC BIOS
Wade E. Saadi:
- American Philatelic Society: Board of Directors (2005-2007). Chaired the APS Executive Director Search committee, which led to the hiring of Peter Mastrangelo. Chair of the Membership Promotion and Recruiting Committee and introduced the Chapter Outreach program enabling APS board members to actively communicate with all the APS Chapters.
- Smithsonian National Postal Museum: Council of Philatelists (2003-Present). Conceived and implemented a complete restructure of the Council of Philatelists that made the Council more responsive to NPM needs. Chaired and helped conceive the Arago® project (an online research resource) and now chair the Arago committee. Serve on the Operations Committee (an oversight and planning arm of the Council). Initiated bringing the History Channel into discussions with the National Postal Museum and the US Postal Service to promote the hobby to the masses.
- US Philatelic Classics Society: Vice President (2004-Present) and Director (2002-Present) and chair the Finance Committee. Also serve as The Chronicle 1847 Section Editor since 1997. Awarded the Chase Cup in 1997 for three-part article in the American Philatelist. Aided the Society to positive membership growth and profitability as Vice-President.
- Collectors Club (New York): President (2005-2007) and Director (1996-2007). Have overall responsibility for operations and finances of the Club, including planning and implementation of board directives. Served ten years as House Chair, responsible for the maintenance of the clubhouse.
- NY-2016 Organizing Committee: Led the effort to secure NYC as the site for the next US International Philatelic Exhibition in 2016 and serve as President of the Organization.
- Youth Philately: Involved in the incubation of, "Shaping the Future of Philately" Council, where philatelic organizations, press, dealers and the Postal Service developed a unified plan of action promoting stamp collecting, particularly to youth through school curricula. This program has migrated to the National Postal Museum where for the past two years over 4,000 teachers have attended "Teachers Night" at the museum.
Steven J. Rod:
- American Philatelic Society: Chairman of the Campaign for Philately, APS-APRL's effort to raise $10 million to assure the strong future of our hobby. Treasurer 1988-1992. Received Century Award for recruiting more than 100 members, and the Ernest Kehr award.
- American Philatelic Research Library: Lifetime Patron Member, Former Contributing editor of Philatelic Literature Review.
- United States Stamp Society: Editor (volunteer) of The Encyclopedia of United States Stamps and Stamp Collecting. Member, Board of Governors, various periods of time, most currently 2007-2009.
- Stamp Shows: Chaired the five qualifying Omaha Stamp Shows leading to its accreditation as a World Series of Philately Show in 1988. Currently a member of the NOJEX Board of Directors.
- Local Clubs: Honorary lifetime member of the Omaha Philatelic Society. Director and Auction Manager of the Westfield (NJ) Stamp Club. Member West Essex (NJ) Philatelic Society.
- Youth Philately: Adult Supporting Member, Young Stamp Collectors of America (YSCA), Former Trustee and fund-raising chair for the Junior Philatelists of America. Ernest Kehr award winner for programs in youth philately.
David L. Straight:
- American Philatelic Society: Director-at-Large (2003-2007). Have promoted a closer working relationship with the APRL Trustees. As part of the Capital Campaign, lead the campaign for the St. Louis Patio, adjacent to the Headsville Post Office. Write the monthly "Starting from the Back" column (2005-Present) in the American Philatelist.
- American Philatelic Research Library: APRL Trustee 2001-2007; Bring a professional librarian prospective to this board. Represented APRL at International Philatelic Libraries Association meeting in 2006. Have initiated planning among philatelic librarians to develop cooperative digital projects. Write “Colophon,” the news column for the Philatelic Literature Review (2003-Present).
- Postal History Symposium: Co-founder and co-chair of the annual postal history conference sponsored by the APS and the NPM which strengthens our ties with museums and academic scholars who share our interest in postal history and philately. The first was held in Washington DC (November 2006); the second will be in Bellefonte in October 2007.
- Local Clubs: President Greater St. Louis Stamp Club. Vice-president Webster Groves Stamp Club. Founder and editor (1997-2005) of Bear Tracks, the Webster Groves Stamp Club newsletter. Co-editor (2005-Present) of Show-Me Gazette, the newsletter for the Missouri Postal History Society.
- Stamp Shows: Served on Board for St. Louis Stamp Expo (1993-Present). Have sat on the dealer's side of the table as a part-time stamp dealer (1979-1988) and as the operator of a monthly bourse in St. Louis (1983-1988).
- Youth Philately: Serve as Board Chairman for Stamp Camp, a program that trains teachers and adult volunteers to use stamps with students in both school and recreational settings. Initiated a Boy Scouts stamp collecting merit badge program that tripled the number of St. Louis scouts earning this badge. Have shared this program with other WSP shows.