The terms of office of Prof. Catalano Sgrosso, Prof Jakhu, Prof Lyall, Dr Ramirez, Dr Schrogl and Dr Sterns expired in 2007. In addition, the IISL Nomination Committee learned that IISL President, Nandasiri Jasentuliyana would step down as of 1 January 2008.

The Nomination Committee recommended the following to the Board: Ram Jakhu, Corinne Jorgenson, Ricky Lee (as of January 1, 2008), Francis Lyall, Sergio Marchisio, Kai-Uwe Schrogl and Maureen Williams. The Nominating Committee furthermore proposed and the Board of Directors unanimously endorsed that Nandasiri Jasentuliyana be elected President Emeritus and that Patricia Sterns, who was not standing for re-election, be named an Honorary Director of the Institute in light of her superior and outstanding work for the IISL over many years.

The Committee recommended Tanja Masson-Zwaan for President beginning 1 January 2008 and until the 2010 Colloquium. Mrs Masson-Zwaan has been on the Board since 1991 and, as Secretary, is thoroughly knowledgeable about the purposes of the Institute and its responsibilities. She has a consulting company in air and space law, Adastra Consulting, and was recently appointed Secretary, Member of the International Advisory Board of the International Institute of Air and Space Law at Leiden University.

The Committee nominated Corinne Jorgenson for the position of Secretary.

Background notes

Corinne Jorgenson is currently editor of the Proceedings of the Colloquia on the Law of Outer Space. She is also President of Advancing Space Consulting Group in Fairfax, Virginia USA.

Ricky Lee is Principal in Ricky Lee & Associates, Commercial Lawyers in Adelaide, S.A. Australia. He received the IISL Distinguished Service Award in 2005. He is the initiator and organizer of Asia Pacific round of the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition.

Prof. Sergio Marchisio is Professor at the University of Rome La Sapienza and is with the Institute for International Legal Studies of the National Research Council - Italy. He is a former Chairman of the UN-COPUOS Legal Sub-Committee.

Prof. Maureen Williams is Chair of the Space Law Committee of the International Law Association and is with the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research in Argentina.