Timothy Heleniak become the new Director of the American Geographical Society in June, 2012. Dr. Heleniak has extensive experience, which he brings to this position. For the last several years, he has been a Research Associate at the University of Maryland and an International Development Consultant for the World Bank, Economist Intelligence Unit, UN Development Programme, Pew Research Center, and other international organizations. He previously worked for the World Bank, UNICEF, and the U.S. Census Bureau and taught at Georgetown University. His regional specialties are Russia and the other countries of the former Soviet Union and the Arctic. He has traveled extensively to these and other regions. He has researched and written extensively on migration, population change, and regional development in the former Soviet Union. He is the Editor of the journal, Polar Geography. The AGS has a long and rich history in Polar exploration and research and Polar Geography was initially published under the auspices of the AGS. He is one of the lead authors of the Arctic Human Development Report. He has a PhD in Geography and an MBA in Finance from the University of Maryland. He is originally from Seattle. He can be reached at timheleniak@amergeog.org .