Nominating Committee

ICANN's At Large Membership election process for 2000 is currently underway. Through these worldwide online elections, ICANN's At Large Members will choose five Directors for the ICANN Board, one from each of five geographic regions (Africa, Asia/Australia/Pacific, Europe, Latin America/Caribbean, and North America).

As part of that process, ICANN chartered a Nominating Committee to select a set of candidates to be put before the At Large Members for their consideration. The Nominating Committee's objective was to identify outstanding candidates that will be widely supported throughout the Internet community.

The Nominating Committee's nominations were completed on 31 July 2000, and are listed in the Committee's report.

To keep its operations open and transparent, the Committee posted its selection criteria in connection with its Call for Recommendations and Expressions of Interest.

Now that its work has been completed, the election process will proceed to (1) a member-nomination phase in which candidates who were not nominated by the Nominating Committee can seek a place on the ballot by attracting a minimum threshold of support from At Large Members in her/his region via online endorsement; (2) a voter-education period; and, finally, (3) the vote of the At Large Members. Nomination by the Nominating Committee is thus one of two avenues for candidates to appear on the final ballot. See the At Large Membership home page for details.

The ICANN Nominating Committee has completed its work in selecting a set of candidates for the ballot for election of 5 At Large Directors to the ICANN Board.

We express our appreciation for the willingness of these individuals to consider the possibility of serving as a member of the Board, and for the active participation of those who recommended candidates for consideration by the Nominating Committee. We also gratefully recognize the helpful commentary from the community during the design of this election process as well as the widespread interest in ICANN's technical and administrative responsibility for coordinating the Internet's domain name and IP address systems.

Approximately 211 individuals expressed interest in being considered, or were recommended for consideration. The committee received input from over 400 individuals worldwide. Multiple names were forwarded to the Nominating Committee from each of ICANN's five geographic regions.

The following set of individuals has been selected by the Nominating Committee to be on the ballot for this year's At Large elections. Some additional information about these candidates is available on the ICANN website; full information for all candidates will be posted on September 1 at the start of the voter education phase.

Africa

• Alan Levin
• Nii Quaynor

Asia/Pacific

• Johannes Chiang
• Lulin Gao
• Masanobu Katoh
• Sureswaran Ramadass

Europe

• Maria Livanos Cattaui
• Alf Hansen
• Olivier Muron
• Oliver Popov
• Winfried Schüller

Latin America

• Raul Echeberria
• Ivan Moura Campos
• Patricio Poblete

North America

• Lyman Chapin
• Donald Langenberg
• Lawrence Lessig
• Harris Miller

The next phase in the election process will provide an opportunity for "member nominations," in which an individual may seek a place on the ballot by submitting his/her name as a candidate and attracting a minimum threshold level of support from the activated ICANN members in his/her region. On September 1, after the complete ballot of nominated candidates has been announced, a voter education phase will follow. The online voting is scheduled to take place from October 1 to 10.

Further information about the next phases, as well as the initial phase which resulted in this Nominating Committee Report, can be found on the At Large Membership home page.

ICANN Nominating Committee

Click here to see the Nominating Committee's Call for Recommendations and Expressions of Interest, which was posted on May 22, with a deadline for public input of July 10, 2000.

The Nominating Committee identified the following key factors to consider in making its nominations:

1. Reputation for integrity and hard work
2. Ability to exercise independent judgment; willingness to disclose obligations and potential conflicts of interest
3. Professional/volunteer roles and accomplishments
4. Understanding of the Internet's architecture and history
5. Experience with the Internet's architecture
6. Specific experience with the domain name and IP address systems
7. Experience in international and/or multicultural environments
8. Educational background
9. The extent to which the individual would bring relevant skills or experience that are otherwise absent from the ICANN Board
10. Commitment: available time, energy, and interest
11. Indications that the individual will find broad support in the At Large Membership

These criteria were not meant to be decisive; they were, however, key factors to be weighed.

The members of the Nominating Committee were Linda S. Wilson, Jean-François Abramatic, Mads Bryde Andersen, John Klensin, Jun Murai, Charles Musisi, and Alejandro Pisanty.

Some brief biographical information:

Linda Wilson - Chair

Linda S. Wilson is president emerita of Radcliffe College, presently on sabbatical leave after serving as president for a decade, and one of the nine initial Directors of ICANN. She lives in the United States.

Jean-François Abramatic

Jean-François Abramatic is Chairman of W3C, the World Wide Web Consortium, and a Director of ICANN selected by the Protocol Supporting Organization. He lives in France.

Mads Bryde Andersen

Dr. Mads Bryde Andersen is a professor of private law at the University of Copenhagen. He is chairman of the Danish Internet Forum (the registrar for the .dk domain). He lives in Denmark.

John Klensin

John Klensin is Internet Architecture Vice President of AT&T. He is also Chair of the Internet Architecture Board. He lives in the United States.

Jun Murai

Jun Murai is currently Professor, Faculty of Environmental Information, Keio University (Japan); Adjunct Professor at the Institute of Advanced Studies, United Nations University; Instructor at Tokyo University of Art and Music; President of the Japan Network Information Center (JPNIC); General Chairperson of the WIDE Project (a Japanese Internet research consortium); Vice Chairperson of the Japanese chapter of the Internet Society; and Vice President of the Japanese Internet Association. He is a member of the board of the Internet Society, and one of the intial Directors of ICANN. He lives in Japan.

Charles Musisi

Charles Musisi is an Internet consultant, and the delegated administrator of the ccTLD for Uganda (.ug). He helped build Uganda's first networks, and currently runs the East Africa Help Desk. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of AfriNIC. He lives in Uganda.

Alejandro Pisanty

Alejandro Pisanty is currently Coordinator for Open and Distance Education at UNAM, the National Autonomous University of Mexico, in Mexico City, Mexico. He also serves as Chairman of the Board of CUDI, Corporación Universitaria para el Desarrollo de Internet, the Mexican Internet 2 Consortium, as well as of ISOC Mexico. He is a Director of ICANN, selected by the Domain Name Supporting Organization. He lives in Mexico.

The ICANN Board chartered the Nominating Committee as follows:

"There shall be a Nominating Committee responsible for nominating a set of candidates for five At-Large Director seats, to be placed on the ballot for consideration and selection by the At-Large members of ICANN in the year 2000. The Nominating Committee will solicit and accept recommendations for candidates from the global Internet community. The Nominating Committee may also affirmatively recruit candidates for nomination."