IPA members now enjoy online access to the entire back catalogue of the Association's journal from its inception in 1886, hosted on JSTOR. For the first three years it was called The Phonetic Teacher, and from 1889 to 1970 it was Le Maître Phonétique — commonly known as MF [ˈɛm ˈɛf]. Go to
https://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/member/jipa-online
The early issues present the interesting linguistic challenge of reading several languages — differing varieties and styles of English, French and German, for instance — in all kinds of experimental transcription. The journal continued to be printed in phonetic symbols until the last MF in 1970.

We regret to announce the death of Professor John Laver (1938–2020). The Council and officers of the Association extend their condolences to his family and friends.

The IPA Secretary sent the following message to members on 12 May:

It is with great sadness that I have to inform you that former President of the IPA (1991-5) Professor Emeritus John Laver CBE, FBA, FRSE, passed away in Scotland on 6th May after an extended period of ill health.
John was Professor Emeritus of Speech Science at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, but the large part of his career was built at the University of Edinburgh where he was based from 1966-2000, becoming Professor of Phonetics in 1985. John’s influence on the field of Phonetics was very significant indeed, in particular his hugely influential work on the phonetic description of voice quality beautifully set out in his eponymous 1980 CUP monograph.
John provided mentoring and support to generations of Phonetics and Speech Science researchers both in Edinburgh and beyond, applying his customary incisive analytic skills, his rigorous approach to phonetic taxonomy, and his unfailing ability to shed new light on the complexities of phonetic theory. John was a relentless advocate for the field of Phonetics, seeing it as occupying a pivotal position at the intersection of a wide range of disciplines. This vision was spectacularly brought to life in 1984 when John established the highly innovative Centre for Speech Technology Research at Edinburgh which he directed from 1984-89, and then chaired until 1994.
In the latter years of his career, John served as Vice-Principal of Edinburgh University and held a number of external appointments, including a period as Chair of the British Academy's Humanities Research Board during which he steered its transition into the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council. After he was appointed to Queen Margaret University in 2001 John undertook a number of senior academic roles, including a period as Acting Principal, before his retirement in 2004.
John’s loss will be deeply felt by many members of the IPA who have worked or studied with him over the years, or who have had their understanding of the field shaped by reading his work or by hearing one of his inspirational talks. For those of us who knew John very well as a colleague and/or student, it does feel like the end of an era.

Gerry Docherty
(Secretary, IPA)

The IPA now publishes accounts annually, separately from the Treasurer's reports (which normally appear at four-yearly intervals in ICPhS years). The accounts to 31 December 2019 are available at
https://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/sites/default/files/off...
Or to see all accounts and reports, choose About and then Officers' and Committee Reports.

For the foreseeable future, during the Coronavirus pandemic, the IPA is suspending its examinations. This means that both examinations scheduled for 2020 are now cancelled.

Please watch this website for further information.

The IPA is co-sponsoring the 1st International Conference on Tone and Intonation (TAI), to be held in Sonderborg, Denmark, 16-20 August 2020. IPA is offering up to five Awards. Applicants for these Awards must be (1) sole author or first and presenting author of an oral or poster presentation accepted by TAI, and (2) an eligible student member of the IPA: student member, unemployed member, member under age 35, or member from a low-income-level country. Applicants may join the IPA at the time of application, as long as the membership can be confirmed before an Award is made.

To apply for an Award, eligible members of the IPA should send to the Secretary (Gerry Docherty, secretary@internationalphoneticassociation.org) and to the Chair of the Conference Sponsorships and Student Awards Committee (Katerina Nicolaidis, knicol@enl.auth.gr) an email that states their name, current academic affiliation (if any), how they are eligible for an Award (student member, or other eligible category), and for student members, the name and email address of an academic supervisor. The email should be accompanied by the abstract that has been accepted for oral or poster presentation at TAI and by the confirmation of acceptance from the conference organizers. The deadline for applications is June 3, 2020. Abstracts will be reviewed by the Conference Sponsorships and Student Awards Committee and decisions will be made by June 18, 2020. For student members, the Award will cover the student early registration fee. For other eligible members, the Award will cover part of the regular early registration fee.