Preview Meeting Cancellation Letter

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OFFICE OF THE

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

FOR MATHEMATICAL AND

PHYSICAL SCIENCES

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

4201 WILSON BOULEVARD ARLINGTON,

VIRGINIA 22230

Dear Colleagues,

I regret that circumstances force us to cancel the Mathematical and Physical Sciences

Advisory Committee meeting scheduled for November 7 and 8. I am sure that you are

aware of the events that have been complicating life for us in the last few weeks. During

the one day we have been back at work, we have been working through plans for the next

month or so and realize that we would not use your time properly if we held the meeting

as scheduled.

The 16-day government shutdown came at a critical time in our preparation for the

meeting. The many obligations of restarting our operations after the shutdown are

occupying us fully, and we cannot prepare the background materials and make the other

arrangements needed for a productive meeting. The entire Foundation is limiting its

Advisory Committee meetings until the first of the year as a consequence of the

shutdown.

We will defer our face-to-face meeting and the discussions we had planned to one of the

next two meetings (currently scheduled for January 22 and April 3-4). I will send you

more details as we work out our plans. Like all of NSF, we in MPS are working hard to

mitigate the impact of the shutdown. We are preparing a “Dear Colleague Letter” to the

MPS community that outlines our plans for recovery, and you should look for that letter

in the next few weeks.

I am sorry that we will not get to talk with you in November. The Advisory Committee

meetings are very useful for us in MPS, and I am disappointed to miss the opportunities

that the November meeting would have provided. I appreciate your work for the

Advisory Committee and look forward to our next meeting. I apologize for the

inconvenience that our canceling the meeting causes and wish you the best for the fall.

Best regards,

F. Fleming Crim

Assistant Director for Mathematical and Physical Sciences

October 18, 2013

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