At the Annual General Meeting in Québec on 15 November, members of the International Council on Archives approved the decision of the Executive Board to appoint David Leitch as the next Secretary-General. He will succeed the current post-holder, Joan van Albada, on 1 August 2008.

David was born and educated in Glasgow, Scotland. He gained an MA degree at the University of Glasgow, a Ph.D at the University of Cambridge, and an MA with distinction in archive studies at University College London. He has worked as an archivist for over twenty years, mostly with the National Archives of the United Kingdom, where he was a member of the Management Board from 2000 to 2006.

In ICA he has served as a member of the Editorial Boards of ARCHIVUM and Comma since 1993. He joined the Secretariat in Paris as Senior Programme Manager in July 2006, and was promoted to Deputy Secretary General one year later. His other international activities have included chairing the United Kingdom and Ireland Committee of the Blue Shield and acting as secretary to the International Panel evaluating the National Archives Service of Finland.

David is strongly committed to the promotion of cultural and linguistic diversity within ICA, to improving its planning and communications, and to raising the profile of archives on the world stage. In the coming months he will play an increasingly prominent part in ICA governance and the management of relations with partner organizations, while Joan will concentrate on planning for the International Congress in Kuala Lumpur (21-27 July 2008) and the development of ICA’s website.