As I begin my year of service as LERA president, I have been thinking much about LERA’s mission and purpose. I have come to the view that the mission and structure of LERA should be guided by the core defining principles of our field. In addition to clarifying LERA’s role, I believe these core principles provide an answer to criticisms that our field is dying in part because it lacks a central theory or cohesive focus. As you’ll see, I believe that LERA serves a number of vital purposes. Given the power and relevance of LERA and our field’s guiding principles, I’m also optimistic about the contributions and future of our field.
