Diane Melton: The Lady Behind the Scenes

The Annual Conference on Magnetism and Magnetic Materials (MMM) will celebrate its 70th edition in 2025. A single person has overseen the running of over half of these MMM, along with many Intermag Conferences, from 1981 to 2019. The same person also served as the Executive Director of the IEEE Magnetics Society for decades. She has been a key figure, a standard-bearer, a gate-keeper, the liaison between volunteers and the society, that ensures the smooth operation of these franchises. Meet the lady behind the scenes – Diane Melton. Hear her accounts of how MMM/Intermag and MagSoc have evolved over the years, fun facts and surprises, most memorable experiences, and her advice to newcomers.

Special thanks to Suzanne G.E. te Velthuis who put together the memorable retirement book for Diane on behalf of the magnetism community at the 2019 Joint MMM-Intermag, and to numerous MMM/Intermag Conference organizers and MagSoc leaders over the years who helped immensely with this interview.