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Letter to the Editor

Dear Judy

I have just read your Editorial in Volume 13, Number 3, 2005 concerning the lack of women on the IUCr Executive Committee and as officers over the years. It was a very considered and constructive piece, and I hope that some of the newly elected Committee will resonate with what you say. In the sciences, the IUCr is unique in having such a massive participation and contribution from women. At the same time, the number of female representatives in the higher offices of the Union has been pitiful. This is ironic when set against official requests for gender and geographical balance in inviting speakers for scientific microsymposia. Since I had to leave Florence a day or so before the election I hadn’t heard Maria Carrondo’s exact words before. They are both dignified and true, and I believe that the vast majority of crystallographers would agree.

Frank Allen